Paris’ fifth arrondissement boasts a vibrant hub of students mingling with the city’s bourgeois elite. This is how to stay here – and how to slot right in, just like a local.
South of the Seine’s left bank, Paris’ Latin Quarter is home to the Pantheon, Jardin des Plantes, historic literary streets, old bookshops, and art deco cinemas that students from the nearby Sorbonne University flock to after lectures. A spirited arrondissement in its past and in its present, the fifth has always retained an intellectual stoicism and cultured charm.
Now, this storied chapter of the French capital is home to the newly opened Le Jardin de Verre by Locke, once a historic maison that now welcomes the young, international crowds to stay.
The Vibe
Within a neighbourhood that was once known for its beautiful meandering gardens and privately-owned homes, Le Jardin de Verre opened in spring this year, with its restaurant, Bibie, following in the summer. Housed within an 18th-century Baroque mansion with Haussmannian quirks, this is a character-filled stay with all the modern amenities and furnishings a young travelling crowd desires.
Two old fashioned shop fronts painted in a brilliant shade of green frame either side of an archway. These are the first things you’ll see as you pull up outside Le Jardin de Verre by Locke, down a quiet street in Paris’ creative quarter. Swan through the archway and find a milling of crowds enjoying the autumnal sun en terrasse under yellow-fringed parasols: friends catching up over lunch; colleagues creatively brainstorming; solo diners enjoying a good book over a glass of wine.
Inside, a funky papered wall frames the mirror-clad reception desk, setting up the hotel’s interior vibe. Across the hotel, the interiors are awash with colour, as designed by Los Angeles-based architecture and design studio, Fettle, including bespoke patterned light shades, paintings in brilliant shades of acrylic, and soft furnishings designed and made by textile artists Sinéad and Mark Hanlon of Studio Knot.
Set up in an aparthotels format, Le Jardin de Verre is perfect for travellers spending a longer amount of time in the city, or perhaps weekenders looking for freedom – like to cook alone or do your own laundry – that you don’t have in a traditional hotel, but with all the nice luxuries a hotel has to offer sprinkled in. The fun lies amongst this relaxed atmosphere, where anything you fancy, goes.
The Rooms
A suite at Le Jardin de Verre feels like your own Parisian pied-à-terre, but is in fact one of 145 rooms across 11 different categories, from the City Suite, which comes with a balcony, to the two signature penthouse apartments, the Begonia Suite and Roseraie Suite. Each is designed like a small studio apartment, accompanied by helpful amenities and little hotel luxuries. We stayed in a City Suite, complete with a compact but well-stocked kitchenette. Much like the foyer and lounge spaces, the suite is painted in burnt orange and brilliant red shades, with a patterned headboard and curved sofa for lounging. Inside the ensuite, chocolate-coloured tiles offer a shower stocked with Kinsey Apothecary toiletries and a modest space for getting ready in the evenings.
The Food + Drink
Don’t fancy hunkering down in your suite with a home-cooked meal? Hop in the lift downstairs to the hotel’s restaurant Bibie, a funky space filled with pink-toned dining nooks and marble tables. Housed within the internal courtyard, this is undoubtedly the heart of the hotel. Le Jardin de Verre means ‘the glass garden’ and the whole space has been built from glass panels by the Fettle team, and then filled with green plants from ceiling to floor. It’s here that an impressive breakfast spread of hot dishes is served straight from the open kitchen alongside cold buffet classics like granola (with plant-based yoghurts) and gluten-free cakes. Order coffee from the marble-clad pink bar and dine amongst the potted plants.
The evening starts at Bibie’s bar, and continues until 2am. Start en terrasse, as the Parisiennes do, with a glass of wine if the weather permits, before making your way into the comfortable and very colourful bar lounge. You’ll be handed a red leather drinks menu with a sweet French phrase like “accorde moi cette dance” (‘grant me this dance’) embossed on the front, and listing natural wines selected by Bibie’s sommelier.
The atmosphere in the restaurant starts to pick up at 8pm as both hotel guests and city dwellers head over for dinner. The menu is concise and mixes French classics (filet de boeuf with frites) with modern and Middle Eastern inspired twists (carrots served with a zaatar creme, green beans and roasted almonds with labneh). If you’re looking for a wine pairing – by bottle or glass – the friendly sommelier is more than happy to help.
The Little Extras
If you think the Parisians are afraid of bold colours, think again. There is a contemporary, creative spirit that lingers in all the details across the property, and reminds you of where you are wherever you turn. The room keys are decorated in colourful graphics by artist Pablo Grand Mourcel. Opposite the reception desk in the foyer, the Klin d’Oeil pop-up shop stocks a myriad of independent brands – all based and made in France – showcasing everything from hand-sewn eye masks and makeup bags to vases and candle holders, each in varying shades of brilliant colour. Scan a QR code to shop, with delivery straight to the hotel reception or to your home available.
This is the Locke group’s 17th property, so you could say they know what they’re doing. Upon check-in, you’re handed a Whatsapp number via which a set of fresh towels are just a swift text message away. Downstairs, alongside a gym (text the reception team for the week’s yoga schedule) you’ll also find a laundry room. While the hotel team takes care of fresh towels and linens, you can replenish your suitcase staples if staying a while.
The To-Do List
When in Paris, it’s all too tempting to quickly rush all over the city to see the sites, but take time wandering around the hotel’s nearby neighbourhood, which is full of old bookshops and cinemas – the kind that feel like they can only truly be discovered by accident, including the Christine Cinéma Club directed by actor Isabelle Huppert.
Start your day with a long stroll around Jardin des Plantes (Paris’ immaculate botanical gardens) which starts just a stone’s throw away from the hotel and extends right up to the Seine. The beautiful Jardin du Luxembourg is also a 20-minute walk away (in the opposite direction) and is split between English and French styled gardens.
The local spot Le Petit Bal Perdu serves a great lunch menu best enjoyed on the sun-trap terrace. Young crowds will enjoy heading around the Pantheon as night arrives to hit up the bars favourited by Paris’ university students.
All images © Le Jardin de Verre by Locke
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