Hotel review: new boutique Hotel Norman in Paris, France
With only 37 rooms and located in the 8th arrondissement, this mid-century modern-inspired boutique property is tres chic.
There’s something glamorous about breezing into a hotel through a timber and brass revolving door watched over by attentive concierges. It gives the Norman Hotel, a chic new address in Paris’s landmark-strewn 8th arrondissement, a certain je ne sais quoi. With only 37 guestrooms, this boutique property stands on a coveted corner among a cluster of Hausmann-style buildings off Avenue des Champs-Elysees, eight minutes’ walk from the Arc de Triomphe.
The mid-century modern vision of architect Thomas Vidalenc, the hotel was inspired by his admiration of its namesake, Norman Ives. The American artist and graphic designer was most active in the 1950s and 60s. He loved vibrant colours and pioneered the use of lettering in art.
A rippling semicircle of forest-green drapes hangs, theatrically, at the entrance. Beyond the curtain, a lounge bar beckons with plush velvet couches, low-slung oak coffee tables, and armchairs variously upholstered in houndstooth and buttoned boucle.
Panelled taupe walls, a fireplace, abstract wooden sculptures and colour field paintings complete a scene in which Don Draper could be drinking an old fashioned at the bar, scribbling ideas on a napkin.
The shades and geometric shapes throughout channel American southwestern decor, with flickers of rust, mustard, magenta and terracotta grounded by cactus greens and dusky blues. Lamps generate gentle light and there are thankfully few of the detestable downlights so many hotels torture guests with. They do beam down on us unforgivingly in Norman’s mirrored elevator, however.
When it comes to dining, I’m told it was a coup to secure Thiou, the new restaurant of Michelin-starred Thai chef Apiradee Thirakomen (known as Chef Thiou), whose first establishment opened on the left bank in 2000. She has set the benchmark for Thai gastronomy in Paris, and the reverence with which she is held is evident when she emerges after dinner service to gracefully circle the restaurant, knowing exactly which tables to call on. Stylish Parisians stand to say “bonsoir”, clearly honoured.
“I don’t like the word fusion,” Thirakomen says. I’m seated in a recessed banquette, which is perfect for solo diners, sipping a white from one of Bordeaux’s oldest wineries, Chateau Lafont Menaut. “Fusion means confusion, so I say I make French-inspired Thai food,” she explains. Thirakomen’s distinctively creamy pad Thai is famous among the Paris Fashion Week set, she adds, but her specialty is Weeping Tiger beef: marinated in long-held secrets. “Mine is copied in France, not just in Paris – all over,” she tells me, beaming.
The breakfasts couldn’t be more French. In addition to meat, cheese, pastries and baguettes, an electric crepe maker is left out on high heat – perhaps the French version of a toaster conveyor. “Maybe tomorrow,” I think, opting for a croissant and pear yoghurt from Normandy. The coffee is sub-standard but that’s true of the over-roasted beans everywhere in France. In recent years, several Australian-run cafes have enhanced the city’s coffee scene, and I pop in daily for an oat milk cortado from Coutume, in the 7th arrondissement.
Back in the five-storey hotel, Rothko-esque paintings make the hallways pop. The rooms are spacious and soothing with thick rugs, rosewood bedheads, heavy woollen drapes and French doors that can be flung open to herb-filled window gardens or a bijou balcony. The basement-level spa has a plunge pool, sauna and treatment rooms but its petite size would be an awkward ride with fellow guests, so consider asking for a private booking.
The minibar is more artisanal than practical. Traditionally, French hotels lean into the tightly held excellence of the country’s existing provisions but Norman has jumped on board the “collab” train with Distillerie de Paris, offering own-brand bottles of rum, vodka, gin and single malt whisky. With no in-room fridge for mixers, my spirits stay un-sampled but I do gobble up the salted caramel chocolate domes from the famed Angelina patisserie.
Norman has not democratised its top level with a bar or restaurant. The occupants of its two best lodgings, the Sky Suite and Terrace Suite, get the Eiffel Tower views all to themselves, but I prefer street-level people-watching to a view any day.
A handful of quibbles remain. Despite the bathroom’s ample size (especially for Paris) there’s nowhere, bar the shower floor, to put toiletries. The lack of a magnifying mirror makes applying make-up a literal stretch and, despite hanging my towels for re-use, they’re replaced, which frustrates the water-saving Aussie in me.
But these minor issues aren’t what I remember most about this stylish Paris hotel. I remember the smoked-honey nightcap sipped at the plum-coloured marble bar, chatting with fellow guests. I remember Chef Thiou doing her nightly bows to wowed diners, and how the experienced concierge team make me feel safe and special. How at home I feel in the centre of the city of light.
In the know
Norman Hotel is at 9 Rue Balzac, 75008 Paris. Superior rooms from €490 ($790) a night with discounted rates for Small Luxury Hotels of the World loyalty club members.
Kate Hennessy was a guest of Small Luxury Hotels of the World.
If you love to travel, sign up to our free weekly Travel + Luxury newsletter here.
