TRAVEL & HOSPITALITY EDIT A garden’s elegant rebirth at Le Bristol Paris

A garden’s elegant rebirth at Le Bristol Paris

“Designing a garden is like painting with plants” Lady Arabella Lennox - Boyd

After several months of planning, sketching and planting, Le Bristol Paris unveils a completely updated garden in a verdant expression of the renewed Bristol spirit.

Open skies over Le Bristol Paris

Paris is generous. She presents a countless array of fabulous monuments and dazzles the eye with her historic façades. Her bridges and squares pulsate with charm. Her museums overflow with masterworks, and her storefronts, with elegance. Paris holds one captive in a swirl of beauty and wonder. But in Paris, as in every buzzing capital, peaceful green spaces are rare. So rare, in fact, that the mere mention of one evokes daydreams of stillness and fragrant air. Precious and scarce, private gardens are like the new urban holy grail. Le Bristol Paris’ new garden is a hidden treasure open for discovery.

It is an oasis of flowers and calm lined by plush drawing rooms and a colonnade adorned by blossoming orange trees. The garden is a jewel of serenity only steps away from the bustle of Rue du Faubourg Saint-Honoré. Today, the green heart of the Palace takes on a magnificent new dimension to make our own hearts beat a little faster. To recreate the garden, Le Bristol Paris and MM Design commissioned the exceptional talent of Lady Arabella Lennox - Boyd.

Planting for the future

World renowned landscape designer Arabella approached her new creation for Le Bristol Paris with deep respect for nature’s delicacy, her permanent source of inspiration.

Her bedrock philosophy for this project has been environmental consciousness and sustainability, and Le Bristol Paris is a passionate partner. The hotel has a long-held and deepening commitment to making responsible choices when it comes to the wellbeing of the planet, its guests and employees.

These high standards of environmental stewardship have earned Le Bristol the Green Globe certification. Adhering to this philosophy, Arabella selected many plants native to the Paris region, suited to local conditions. She specified well composted organic soil as she usually does. This would ensure healthy growth and abundant flowering.

Each tree, shrub and flower was deliberately chosen with care and with the aim to support the biodiversity of this precious Parisian oasis. “Trees, shrubs, water and flowers bring birds and beneficial insects to any garden, and I have incorporated all these elements at Le Bristol. The garden will be colonised by nature, giving it a country feel. It is a garden for every day, of all seasons,” explains the landscape designer.

Each season of the year plays out in its full splendour in this ever-changing microcosm. At the arrival of spring, narcissi and tulips bring the first explosion of colour and give way to white bougainvillea and softly tinted pink and deep burgundy roses come summer. The blooms of ornamental grasses and the copper toned beech leaves announce the descent into autumn, and winter’s incubation is gracefully sculpted by evergreens.

To maintain the garden’s abundance, Le Bristol Paris vows to use only 100% plant-based and biodegradable products with beneficial impacts on the planet.

Just like the Palace itself, Arabella’s garden is infused with warmth and welcoming elegance. In the traditional English style, her design balances controlled mastery with unkempt freedom.

“My important inspirations come from having been brought up in a wild and remote part of the Lazio where magnificent hills and fields are awash with wildflowers, and from the formality and charm of the Renaissance gardens surrounding Rome, which were very much part of my education. The concept of beautiful wilderness in contrast and constrained by the formality of the design has always been my aim,” she says.

The garden has been completely rearranged, with its focal points resituated and its stable structures adapted to the new configuration. Hornbeam hedges on stilts create a new look, offering privacy and a lush immersion in nature. The green lawn is decorated with the soft symmetry of trees and hedges and a tumble of herbaceous plants. One of Arabella’s favourite trees, the Japanese snowbell, creates an illusion of depth and, in the upper garden, variegated tiered dogwoods, English Yew and evergreen Osmanthus topiaries add drama to the view overhead.

The garden’s centre is lined with deep maroon wood planters showcasing flowers and plants that will shift with the seasons, offering new colours and moods throughout the year. New green treillage, to her design throughout the garden, supports fragrant climbing roses and other plants. The peaceful green haven’s calm is enhanced by the soothing sound of two contemporary fountains in natural slate “to create gentle sound and sparkling reflections,” as she explains.

This garden is an enchanting meeting place. The landscape designer wanted to create more than a beautiful garden. She wished to bring about a garden that coaxes the visitor to walk around, to relax in and to enjoy over a vanilla mille-feuille or a craft cocktail. She wanted to design a space where nature happens.

Today, the garden view from the interior suites and rooms is completely transformed. On the terrace at Epicure, the 3 Michelin starred cuisine of Chef Eric Frechon is served against an inspiring new backdrop. And the courtyard tables at Le Jardin Français now occupy this new Parisian Eden. The superb experience of king crab with grapefruit and a Jungle Speed cocktail is elevated by the presence of dahlias and Forget-Me-Nots, blended so perfectly into the scenery, you’d think they’ve been there forever.

Lady Arabella Lennox - Boyd, an artist by nature

Internationally renowned landscape designer Arabella has designed over 700 gardens all across the globe. Her inimitable style is inspired by her personal history and the limitless abundance of nature.

She was born and raised in Italy at Palazzo Parisi, her family’s residence, a magnificent large house surrounded by gardens where olive trees coexist happily with cypress trees, roses, peonies and wild flowers.

It was there, amidst the hills of the Roman countryside, that she discovered her passion for gardening. But it was her first encounter with the traditional English garden that solidified her love for the craft.

Throughout her 40-year career, she has accumulated an extraordinary portfolio and earned prestigious recognition. She is a 6-time recipient of a Chelsea Flower Show Award. Her garden designs span the globe throughout Europe, America, Hong Kong, Barbados, including private gardens for Sting, Queen Paola of Belgium and the Duke of Westminster, in addition to several roof gardens including one surrounding a Terence Conran restaurant.

When asked what her favourite part of Le Bristol Paris’ new garden is, Lady Arabella responds: “There are many favourite places in this garden. I want to imagine that if I was with friends, I would sit at a table in the middle of the courtyard, surrounded by flowers, scent and foliage, or to linger on the intimate Woodland path to the Epicure restaurant.

If I was on my own, I would stroll along the perimeter of the garden, enjoying the rhythm of light and shade, taking time to enjoy the detail of the flowers, stepped Euonymus topiaries and hedges and the sound of water.

If looking down from the courtyard-facing rooms, I would be able to appreciate the theatricality of the upper garden and the courtyard patterns created by hedges and lawns, Carpinus hedges on stilts and the fountains.” Countess Bergit Douglas, the mind behind MM Design Countess Bergit Douglas is the founder and Creative Director of the company MM Design based in Frankfurt, Germany. Daughter of Rudolf August Oetker, she cultivated a love of interiors from a young age and went on to pursue formal training at London’s prestigious Inchbald School of Design before launching a four-decade career in luxury interior design.

Countess Douglas is the author of many beloved spaces across Oetker Collection’s specially Le Bristol Paris, Château Saint-Martin & Spa, Brenners Park-Hotel & Spa and Villa Stéphanie. Her work, which marries timeless elegance and a deep appreciation for art, is also enjoyed in the VIP Lounge at the Frankfurt Airport and in private homes around the world.

Epicure / Le Jardin Français 112 rue du Faubourg Saint-Honoré 75008 Paris +33 1 53 43 43 40 / + 33 1 53 43 43 42 epicure@oetkercollection.com

Le Bristol returns with renovated suites, more exquisite than Ever!

Le Bristol Paris, icon of timeless glamour in the heart of Paris, will reopen its doors to a fabulous new chapter in a remarkable history...a history written like a dream.

This precious rebirth gives life to a unique new spirit at Le Bristol, bringing a contemporary vision to its rooms and suites with designs that speak the language of discrete elegance, telling a story of timeless sophistication.

These majestic refurbishments are the capstone marking the completion of Le Bristol Paris’ multi-phase renewal.

For the new room and suite designs, Le Bristol Paris consulted Countess Bergit Douglas and the creative team at her architectural firm, MM Design. The traditional artisanry of Colefax & Fowler, Briatte, Farrow & Ball, Maison Taillardat and Loro Piana are displayed in tasteful touches throughout.

Le Bristol’s star-studded cast of rooms and suites will soon be joined by a new member: the Lumière Suite. Located on the hotel’s 5th floor with a view over Rue du Faubourg Saint Honoré, the suite is designed in the spirit of an elegant Parisian apartment with a library corridor between the drawing room and bedroom, and large bow windows to invite an abundance of light.

Soft tonalities of aqua, jade and coral bring a warm and contemporary feel to this brand new pied-à-terre that is conceived to be a tranquil harbour for the Paris bound.

The beloved Paris Suite has been infused with the beauty of embroidered draperies at the French doors, creating a sumptuous and regal threshold between the resplendent quietude of the interior and the stylish runway that is Rue du Faubourg Saint Honoré.

The richness of the wood parquet — the same as is seen in the Palais de Versailles — and the ornate luxury of a rug made from silk give reason to look down and admire the poetry beneath one’s feet. In the majestic Elysée Suite, a walk-in closet illuminated by natural light offers a veritable stage for showcasing the day’s purchases from the famous boutiques in Paris’ most exclusive shopping district. In the expansive drawing room, walls painted in soft hues are outlined by limed oak moulding for a light, contemporary finish and a gentle atmosphere in which to relax after an afternoon’s treatment at Spa Le Bristol by La Prairie. A private bar now graces the living space for in-suite entertaining that will rival any evening out in the City of Light—an exclusive prelude to dinner at Epicure.

The Panoramic Suite, famously captured in the Academy Award winning film, Midnight in Paris, is preserved in the same design as seen on the silver screen. Now boasting a plush new sofa, it beckons the jet-lagged to curl up with a great book and a glass of rosé Champagne. Suite 1925, a tribute to perennial diva Josephine Baker, is enlivened by original portraits of the beloved entertainer, taken right here at Le Bristol Paris. One imagines dancing the Charleston through this charming, mansard-roofed suite.

A voyage spent in love’s embrace has one quintessential destination: Le Bristol’s Honeymoon Suite. Here, the cinematic view over Paris offers a pure dose of romance.

The Terrace Suite, with its private outdoor spa, channels all of the serenity of a wellness retreat into this rooftop haven, where the warm sun and soft perfume of roses soothe both body and mind with their gentle essence. And in the majestic Penthouse Suite, one is elegantly cut off from the world — but not of its riches — in 350- square-metres of lavish living space.

The glamorous Palace has undergone a metamorphosis of characteristic grandeur.

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