Each summer, it seems, a new hotel captures our attention—and the design spirit of the season. This year, it’s Hotel Lilou.
Located in Hyères, France, near the Mediterranean sea—about midway between Marseille and Saint-Tropez—the just-opened 37-room hotel is the work of Studio Haddou / Dufourcq and is filled at every turn with ideas we all want to adopt at home. Have a look:
Photography as noted, courtesy of Lilou.
1. Paint with an unlikely palette.
Above: The hotel, with an exterior in shades of peach and pale blue, is a local heritage site. Lilou takes the place of the Hôtel des Etrangers, then renamed the Hôtel du Parc, which dated to 1890. When the site went up for sale in 2020, entrepreneur David Pirone bought it; the renovation took three years. Photograph by Stephanie Davilma.Above: “The story behind Hotel Lilou begins with an encounter,” according to the hotel, when David Pirone met architects Kim Haddou and Florent Dufourcq—graduates of France’s renowned Ecole Camondo—by chance. Here, the hotel’s stately entry in the center of Hyères.. Photograph by Stephanie Davilma.
2. Bring back burl wood.
Above: Burl wood is having a moment, including in Hotel Lilou’s bar. “The lounge and bar is designed as a remix of the winter gardens of the great 19th-century hotels,” according to the hotel, with a lattice-esque ceiling and “dapper” varnished bull poplar bar. Photograph by Ludovic Balay.
