The first thing that strikes you when you enter the five-star Le Grand Mazarin in Paris’ hip Marais district is the hotel’s distinctly in-your-face style. Finding a way to describe it, however, may prove elusive. Oxymoronic labels like boho baroque or modern classical come close, but still don’t quite nail it.

The maximalist hotel interiors, which comprise 50 rooms and 11 suites, a restaurant, a bar, and, unusually for Paris, an indoor swimming pool, were created by man-of-the-moment Martin Brudnizki.