Pershing Hall

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Are You Hip Yet?

Pershing Hall is housed in the first arrondissement, a townhouse that formely played host to the doughty veterans of the American Legion, Pershing Hall is Paris's opulent take on the pared down hotel aesthetic. Two local entrepreneurs have invested 10 million dollars in a 99 years lease and an Andree Putman redesign which has given the building a unique design. The building's 19th-century facade was first restyled by General John J Pershing. Pershing was the American First World War general who ran the Axis powers out of town. He also found time to commission the American Eagle pediments and the aviator and infantryman roundels that still survive on the rococo exterior of this new monument to minimalism.

Some other architectural reminders of the building's military past, such as the old Soldier's Star iron work railing and the Victor's Wreath garlands and pilasters in the salon, remain untouched but, overall, the classical and military motifs have been tempered with a little grooviness. Doorways are framed in solid American elm, and flooring alternates between dark oak parquet and coral flecked granite. Putman's big set piece taking point is her vertical rainforest, a six storey facade in the courtyard, carpeted in Southeast Asian jungle foliage. A fibre optic cable that trails through the undergrowth illuminates the foliage at night. Other touches include a, lit from within, sanded glass ice cube bar in the DJ lounge and the recessed alcove above, which is furnished with porcelain plate lights and banquette seating in oyster, shell Maharam fabrics. Like so much that Putman does, the furnishings look conventional, but there's always that one eccentric detail that gives them personality. The crystal ball knobs on the headboard of the beds, for example. Or the low riding easy chairs resting on transparent glass feet. A septuagenarian whose varied curriculum vitae includes Ian Schrager's Morgans Hotel in New York, Karl Lagerfeld's office at Chanel and a remodelling of the Concorde cabin for Air France, Putman knows that good design is the sum of its specific parts. "I'm always having to come up with new thing's," Putman sighs, "and if the details come out wrong, the whole thing gets criticised." She pauses and switches from French to English. "God is in the details." Each of the 26 rooms is slightly different, yet all are deployed in Putman's discreetly sybaritic style. In the white on white rooms, lacquered ivory bed frames mix with airy white print gauze curtains, while full length vanity mirrors are concealed in oak armoires. Sliding doors separate the footed bathtub from the bedroom which come fitted with flat screen Bang & Olufsen television sets and integrated DVD.