Main Menu > Accommodations > HI Hotel
 
 
Profile Accommodations Photo-Gallery How To Reach Us Bookings Facilities FAQs Home
 
 
Traveler Reviews
 


Profile


 
Story
Philippe Chapelet and Patrick Elouarghi have been working together for ten years. After opening the "Epicerie du Monde" in Paris, the first "world food concept store", they decided to head for the country. In the Loire Valley they restored the Chateau de la Tremblaye and in 2001 they embarked on a new challenge, inventing a hotel which would create new standards, transcending the clichés and conventions typical of luxury hotels. The result is HI - urban, innovative, and daring. They chose the city of Nice, at the crossroads of international travel and idyllic weather.
 
The decision to work with Matali Crasset was easy. "She is different, off-beat, and had produced lines of non-decorative furniture, with the focus on functional use and experimentation." The team then set about finding the ideal spot and settled on a 1930s building which had once been a boarding house. The simple lines of the façade provided an ideal starting point for a totally contemporary project. Thus HI was invented.
 

The HI is designed right down to the smallest details. Most furniture, fittings, and even the dinner service and graphic design were created by Crasset. Guest designers, Ron Orb designed the bathrobe and Jerome Oilivet created the HI soap bar.
 
The entrance, lobby and e-shop
The arrival experience is one of being carried into the hotel on a breath of air. Moving through a virtual revolving door their pace naturally slows. Guests are welcomed spontaneously by the receptionist from behind a small table-type desk. In the adjoining lobby the "interface" armchairs are arranged to offer any number of permutations of seating arrangements. Certain armchairs are designed for lap-top computers.
 
A bookshelf/display case presents a selection of works by friends of the HI circle. The floor in the reception area and lobby is paved with cement tiles, giving the impression the outside world has edged its way inside. The same tiles are used as display stands for the range of articles, books and CDs in the e-shop.