They are like fraternal twins with features in common, but totally different looks.
As to similarities, both hotels sit in the spiffy Eighth Arrondissement of Paris, a short stroll to the Champs Elysées. Both are relatively new or newly recreated and boast five star designations. Both offer comfortable, luxurious stays at rates less than “palace” hotels and both wear divine, design-rich decor.
That said, each hotel sports a unique personality.
One is large and multi-purposed; the other small and intimate. One reflects the glamour and sophistication of 1930s Paris; the other couldn’t be more 21st century, au courant contemporary.
First let’s talk about
L’HÔTEL DU COLLECTIONNEUR
Located at 51-57 rue de Courcelles, the seven story L’Hôtel Du Collectionneur contains 478 rooms and suites; a full service spa; an elegant restaurant; a chic bar; a large central garden; a slew of meeting rooms and event venues; and an “executive lounge,” available to those staying in certain rooms and suites.
Lobby
Stairway to Lobby
Garden
Restaurant Le Safran
Purple Bar
Built in 2004, the hotel operated under the Hilton banner as the Hilton Arc de Triomphe until the owner, Albert Cohen, reclaimed the property in 2012. One might think that the Hilton image and prior business focus would linger, but au contraire, Cohen swept away all remnants of the chain and polished the property to a brilliance. Today, the hotel is a member of the prestigious Preferred Hotels & Resorts brand, which represents distinctive properties around the world, and it’s glamour is reflected in two intertwining themes of the 1930s: transatlantic liners and Art Deco.
One sees the ocean liner motif represented in architectural details throughout the hotel.
As to Art Deco, it shows up everywhere—even in the hotel’s new name.
(The original Hôtel d’un Collectionneur refers to a pavilion built for the Paris Exhibition of 1925 to showcase new art labeled “Art Deco.”)
The hotel’s decorators filled both guest rooms and public spaces with Art Deco objects and artifacts, some original, others reproduced. Of special interest are custom-made items that designers created for the hotel using contemporary materials and authentic designs.
Hallway to Guest Rooms
Decor Details
L’Hôtel Du Collectionneur appeals to a wide variety of travelers for a ton of different reasons.
Groups like the lovely lobby, accommodating staff, well-appointed rooms and bountiful buffet breakfast.
Comfortable Rooms
Lobby Flowers
Business people like the free Wi-Fi, the business facilities, the knowledgeable and accommodating concierge. Families like the the connecting rooms as well as the kid-friendly promotions and programs. And sophisticated leisure travellers like the Deco decor; the great bouquets of flowers filling lobbies; the room amenities; the user-friendly bathrooms; the breakfast, snack and cocktail service in the executive lounge;….well…let’s cut to the chase…most guests like everything.
Three words to describe the vibe of L’Hôtel Du Collectionneur: graceful, artistic, multidimensional.
HOTEL VERNET
Hôtel Vernet
One certainly can’t tell from looking at Hôtel Vernet from the street that inside would yield such light,bright contemporary pizzaz. It’s only after walking through the glass doors at 25 rue Vernet, and standing for a moment in the lobby, for the juxtaposition of old and new to reveal its magic.
Built in 1913, the structure functioned as a traditional hotel until Besse Signature Group (a family-owned French company specializing in design hotels) bought the property in 2013. The savvy new owners hired famed interior designer François Champsaur to reinvent the space and the result is striking.
Elements of the original structure remain intact. Marble floors and lobby colonnades, high ceilings, a majestic skylight designed by Gustave Eiffel and stained-glass windows in a curving stairwell provide an elegant frame for the new decor.
Gustave Eiffel’s Glass Dome
With 50 rooms and suites and public space limited to a discreet reception area, several salons plus a bar and restaurant, the property retains an intimate air. Staying at the hotel feels like staying in the private home of a wealthy grande dame who let her hipster, art-loving grandchild move in and take over.
Reception
Salon
Contemporary art fills the hotel, showing up here, there, everywhere—in carpets and ceiling frescos—in framed prints hanging on mirrors and walls—in pleated copper screens and inventive lighting fixtures.
Hall
Ceiling Fresco
The undulating bar seems sculpted from a slab of marble.
Bar
Blue and green dining banquettes circle the hotel’s restaurant, drawing guests into sacred space of color underneath Eiffel’s stained-glass dome.
The V Restaurant
Oak dominates guest rooms. Massive oak doors provide entrance, divide room space and close closets. Oak panels cover walls and stand in as bed headboards. The oak, combined with shades of grey carpeting and white linens, table tops and wall inserts, provide a restful pallet accented with splashes of stimulating color in woolen throws and decorative pillows.
Bedroom
Bedroom
Bathrooms of wood and Carrere marble maintain the clean-line luxury theme.
Bathroom
And in keeping with the five-star designation, Hotel Vernet’s guest rooms sport the latest technology, e.g., state-of-the-art flat screen T.V.s, coffee makers and dramatic futuristic brass bed lamps.
Decor Details
The haute modern Vernet attracts such guests as interior designers, fashionistas, hipsters and sophisticates. Three words to describe the vibe: trendy, hot, urbane.
What do Albert Einstein, Vito Corleone, Irving Berlin, Golda Meir and U.S Navy Rear Admiral Hyman Rickover have in common?
Noël Balen grew up sure of two things: what he wanted to do with his life—music and writing books—and what he didn’t want to do—all the rest.
guests. It’s as if the fairy godmother of modern hospitality waved a magic wand and showered the property with contemporary comfort. Because the sunshine-yellow landmark wears a National Register of Historic Places designation, current renovations paid close attention to preserving the hotel’s historic past, while, at the same time, making structural changes, expanding some public areas and fully refurbishing guest rooms. Today’s guest rooms boast shiny new black and white tile bathrooms as well as a slew of stylish fixtures and furnishing. And lo and behold, the oldest remaining hotel in Yellowstone National Park now sports Internet service (although, blissfully, there are still no televisions in guest rooms).
Wow, talk about a diverse cooking career. Regina Charboneau has worked as a camp cook in the bush of Alaska; been chef de cuisine on a set of luxurious vintage railway cars; launched numerous top restaurants (including King’s Tavern in Natchez, Mississippi; Regina’s at the Regis and Biscuits & Blues, both in San Francisco); written a column for TheAtlantic.com; and purchased and restored, 
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Guest rooms and suites sit here, there and everywhere on the property, some tucked into one and two story buildings and some almost directly on the beach, hidden behind thick native sea grape and lush tropical foliage. Although the 105 rooms and suites vary in size and configuration, all share similar decor elements designed to offer soothing respite from sun and sea. All rooms sport light and airy interiors, with light wood and teak furniture, stone walls, and natural colour schemes (enhanced with dabbles of island colors). And all rooms come with outdoor patio or terrace—-some with better views than others.
Walking paths lined with flowers and shaded by island palms lead guests to the resort’s three dining venues, tennis complex and fitness center, reception area, activities room (sporting a large-screen TV), swimming pool and kids’ playhouse. In keeping with the resort’s original concept, there are no locks on the doors or televisions in most rooms and cell phone use is discouraged in public settings. 
New to Rockefeller’s vision is the spa. And what a spa it is! Although the treatments are divine, it’s location location location that make Little Dix’s Sense spa the loveliest in the Caribbean.
