Meet the Couple Who Are Upending Parisian Hospitality
When Anouk and Louis Solanet opened the Hôtel Rochechouart at the foot of Montmartre in early 2020, it was just before Paris underwent its first lockdown. Some hoteliers might have been nervous, but for the married couple (whose Orso group now counts seven boutique properties all over Paris) it was a chance to indulge in the unexpected.
“We opened the Rochechouart five days before the curfew began,” says Louis, a Paris native whose family has operated hotels for four generations. “But we learned it was possible for the restaurant to stay open after 9 p.m. for guests, so we organized an offer that meant whoever came for dinner could sleep over. It felt like life during Prohibition!”
That’s the sort of thinking that’s apparent at all of Orso’s properties. Whether you’re at the Rochechouart (an Art Deco jewel renovated by the buzzy architecture duo Festen that feels like the Château Marmont on a semester abroad) or the Wallace (an airy escape in the stately 15th Arrondissement), there’s a winking whimsy that elevates the properties beyond being just places to stay.
Some touches are found across the portfolio—like freshly baked cakes waiting in the lobby in the afternoon, and the Solanets’ own bath products, which feature the scent of wild fennel, inspired by their home in Corsica—but each property has a personality all its own. The bar at the Hôtel Léopold, near the Jardin du Luxembourg, is inspired by Parisian artists of the 1920s; the recently opened Mikado, beneath the Rochechouart, is a moody nightclub in a former gambling hall. (“Wes Anderson movies,” Anouk says, “are always on our mood board.”)
And if what you’re looking for isn’t available on site, the well-connected couple publish an insiders guide listing dozens of their own favorite places to eat, shop, drink, and explore just like a local, from a bistro run by a friend who serves wine from his own vineyard to under-the-radar museums, tango clubs, and drag shows. “As we’ve traveled, we’ve had amazing stays in unexpected places, because the people were incredible, and we’ve had bad experiences in cool places where everything felt forbidden,” Louis says. “We’re trying to find a way to bring out the human side of hospitality.”
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