The Luxury Travel Magazine
The Luxury Travel Magazine
France’s seductive lifestyle has long been a magnet for well-heeled travellers. The French have a diverse range of destinations to visit, whether you are looking to spend Summers sipping wine in vineyards in the South or Winter’s carving snow tracks in the Alps. Taking the French hospitality industry by storm, are the French luxury hotel group Maisons Pariente, who offer guests exclusive escapes to beautiful properties in France’s chicest locations. Slow down, live in the moment and enjoy life’s simple pleasures, the French way.
Maisons Pariente is a collection of luxury boutique hotels in Provence, Saint Tropez, Meribel, and soon, Paris. With this collection of stylish French escapes, guests can relax in complete privacy in a comfortable yet stylish environment. As well as capturing the culture and art of each French region, they bring contemporary interior design and home comforts to each property, giving it its own unique charm.
The phrase “home away from home” is overused by hotels, but you must first understand what made the original Pariente house so special. Patrick Pariente and his two daughters, Leslie Kohuhana and Kimberley Cohen, are the creative minds driving this family-run collection. You may recognise the name Patrick Patiente, founder of Parisian fashion house Naf Naf in the 1960’s. During their early years, their mother took her daughters to art exhibitions and selected unique art pieces for the Pariente household’s walls. It is important to Kimberley to be able to make a hotel feel personal and give it a homely atmosphere, and art is a perfect way to do that. There are pieces of art from the family collection throughout the hotel properties. As the family invests personal memories both in the architecture, interior design, and experiences at the properties, they understand current trends of travellers seeking authentic French experiences.
Maisons Pariente does not follow any specific recipe; every hotel is unique and designed to blend subtly with the surroundings to create an authentic experience. As Artistic Director, Kimberley Cohen has her finger on the pulse of the needs of today’s traveller. Her role focuses on the identity of the hotel and the guests’ experience. It includes everything from the scent of the property to the music playing in the spa to the complimentary gifts in each room. The family’s natural creativity surprises guests with thoughtful touches that complement the hotel’s desirable location.“We don’t standardise anything in our hotels”, Kimberley explains. “Everything is personalised to the location, from the hotel design to the choices on the menu”.
To give character to the restaurant menus, chefs reimagine regional dishes using seasonal ingredients. The chef at Crillon Le Brave, Adrien Brunet, changes up the menu every day, reimagining Provençal dishes with the seasonal offerings at the local farmer’s market. The spring brings fresh fruits and finely ripened cheeses, while the winter brings deep truffle pairings.
Chef Riccardo Giraudi runs his signature Beefbar restaurant from both Hotel Lou Pinet in St Tropez and Le Coucou in Meribel. The bovine menu is designed to complement its surroundings, pairing prime cuts of Angus, Wagu and Kobe beef with warming soups and cheeses for the Meribel slopes and with grilled fish, carpachio, ceviche and salads for St Tropez.
For Kimberley, recruiting industry experts for the design of each project was the key to their success. “My favourite part is being able to collaborate with such great people”, she says. “We surround ourselves with different talents because we learn from them and they learn from us”.
The properties are a tribute to the family’s personal memories of France and the beauty the area has to offer:
“I just fell in love again”, Patrick Pariente stated, when he first visited Crillon Le Brave. And it is clear to see why. With its 17th and 18th-century stone buildings, vaulted spa refuge, and cobbled courtyards, the property commands a commanding view of the rolling hills. The elevated outdoor pool is the best place to take in the view while doing laps. While grazing on pre-dinner olives and sipping on crisp local wines, you can experience ‘Farm to Table’ on the main terrace, which overlooks the surrounding vineyards and olive groves.
The French family also recreate their own family experiences and memories through the properties. The famous party scene in Saint Tropez, for example, was not what the Parienté family experienced with their grandparents as children. Recreating the old style of vintage Saint Tropez, Hotel Lou Pinet provides a luxurious refuge from the madness, reviving the glamorous French Riviera spirit of the 1960s and 1970s. With a live orchestra accompanying the activities in the restaurant, guests are encouraged to mingle and dance in a convivial setting.
Located in the Three Valleys, this ski-in/ski-out chalet style hotel is the perfect getaway for skiers. You can easily get on the slopes at Le Coucou with ski passes at the front desk, ski fittings in the pro shop, and a door on the piste that leads straight to the lifts. The hotel combines chic interior design and complete privacy of a home, with the attentive service of the hotel concierge team. After a day of skiing, try Snow Yoga, relax at the Tata Harper spa, or dine at one of Riccardo Giraudi’s restaurants.
Paris’ trendy Le Marais area is set to become Maisons Pariente’s first city-break destination in 2022. The 61 rooms and suites of Le Grand Mazarin will make it their largest hotel yet. “Paris is super touristic, so we want to create a place where the Parisians will want to hang out”, explains Kimberly. And with an extravagant all-day restaurant, underground bar and the largest underground pool in the area, Le Grand Mazarin is bound to get attention.
Whatever your choice of vacation, whether it be in a vineyard or chic city break, by the sea or in the mountains, Maisons Pariente is your home away from home. With their natural artistic flair, the Pariente family creates beautiful five-star hotels on picturesque French properties. Experience the French “joie de vivre” in France’s hottest destinations, with modern facilities, unique experiences, complete privacy and exceptional service.
