CULTURE

Hotel Particulier

Is it a gallery? A boutique? A coffee shop? Yes. Yes. Yes.

by Nancy MacDonell

Inside Hotel Particulier's curated shop.

Don’t let the name fool you: Hotel Particulier does not offer rooms for the night. To put it another way, ceci n’est pas un hotel. “In French an hotel particulier is a townhouse or other building where you can have visitors and entertain,” founder Frederique Thiollet explains. “It’s both a private and a public space.” With that in mind, Thiollet has taken a former loading dock on a little-traveled stretch of Grand Street west of Sixth Avenue and transformed it into a modern re-imagining of the eighteenth-century salon, a sort of an inter-disciplinary think tank where artists and designers can gather to socialize, brainstorm, devise projects and products, and host events. Coming up: During New York fashion week, the Los Angeles-based label Elder Statesman will set up a temporary showroom; later in February, art book publisher D.A.P. and Beatrice Dupire will co-host a three-day “lab of research and trend anticipation.” And thanks to Hotel Particulier’s boutique component and a new partnership with the online lifestyle retailer AHAlife, products that grow out of what Thiollet calls Hotel Particulier’s “creative bureau” have built-in points of sale. The gallery and boutique, which features specially commissioned pieces such as gloves by the British design duo Boudicca, fashion-centric Mad Maus prints by Christopher Lee Sauvé, and jewelry by the artist Edgar Mosa, are open to the public six days a week. The café-cum-work space, up half a level at the back of the room, is accessible by appointment—Thiollet recommends calling at least a day in advance to book a spot—and offers coffee, tea, and snacks as well as complimentary Wi-Fi. “I want to give the feeling that you’re coming to someone’s place,” she says. “You can come and have a coffee with someone, work, get inspired, find some art. It’s something I’ve been thinking about for a long time.”

Photos: Hotel Particulier

The Grand Street storefront. Image courtesy of Hotel Pariculier.

Café service. Image courtesy of Hotel Pariculier.

Hotel Particulier shopping bags at the wrapping station. Image courtesy of Hotel Particulier.

Inside Hotel Particulier’s curated shop. Image courtesy of Hotel Pariculier.

Notepad series No. 1, Eclosion in collaboration with Coolife Studio. Image courtesy of Hotel Particulier.

Inside Hotel Pariculier’s communal working space. Image courtesy of Hotel Particulier.

Edgar Mosa, Necklace, the Mountain series No. 1. Image courtesy of Hotel Pariculier.

Hotel Particulier communal working space. Image courtesy of Hotel Particulier.

Select Boudicca pieces in the curated shop. Image courtesy of Hotel Particulier.

Trong G. Nguyen, Throne, 2012-2013 Edition of 64 unique chairs. Image courtesy of Hotel Pariculier.

Perfume editions on display in the curated shop. Image courtesy of Hotel Pariculier.

Hotel Particulier space. Image courtesy of Hotel Pariculier.

The Hotel Particulier gallery. Image courtesy of Hotel Pariculier.

The MAD MAUS exhibit at the Hotel Particulier gallery. Image courtesy of Hotel Pariculier.

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