Wander through the side streets surrounding the Quatre Septembre metro station, in the heart of Paris’s 2nd arrondissement, and a few surprises await. Perhaps you’ll pass an izakaya-style pub serving beer and yakitori, as if plucked directly from one of the alleys near Shinjuku station; or, while ambling down Rue Saint-Anne, stumble upon a tiny café serving green tea and dorayaki pancakes. It may appear, at first glance, to be a classic Haussmannian neighborhood with grand boulevards and mansard roofs, yet this bustling area, nicknamed “Little Tokyo,” not only boasts some of the best places to eat in town, but it has also retained a spirit of independence and cultural identity all too rare in central Paris. (Takara, reported to be the oldest Japanese restaurant in Europe, opened nearby in 1958, while the surrounding Japanese-owned supermarkets and bookstores that you’ll now find first began springing up in the early 1970s.)
Stepping into the fray this week is Hotel Hana, the latest design-led property from the boutique hospitality group Addresses Hotels. Launched in 2016 by the energetic and—by hotelier standards, anyway—relatively young entrepreneur Nicolas Saltiel, the collection features eight hotels (six in Paris, two in the south of France) conceived as home-away-from-home stays that are firmly in conversation with their environs. So, when it came to creating his latest—and arguably most dazzling—jewel box of a hotel, Saltiel turned to creative director Oliver Leone, known for his background in fashion, and interior designer Laura Gonzalez, whose signature spirit of colorful, artfully clashing maximalism has made her one of Paris’s most in-demand décor gurus.
Photo: Robin Le Febvre