No hotel signs at all, just a gated courtyard that screams exclusivity. You may be forgiven for thinking that you’re staying in a club – which is exactly how they want you to feel. Popstars perch on ice kubes at the ice bar.
Telephone: +33 (0)1 42 05 20 00
Price: from EUR 240
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From the creators of the Murano Urban Resort, Hotel Kube follows a similar concept. The bright rooms, accessed only via fingerprint-recognition ID pads, deliver a sensory overload in contrast with the pitch-black corridors, which are illuminated only by subtle LED disco lights.
Once inside, the rooms feature synthetic fur curtains, bedside tables resembling giant ice-cubes, and photographs of hip-hop bling-styled models in bikinis and fur coats. The hotel’s star attraction is the Ice Kube bar sponsored by Grey Goose, where you can enjoy vodka in sub-zero temperatures, wrapped up in a courtesy anorak.
The ice references permeate throughout – even the reception is a large glass ice–cube-like square box at the centre of the square-tiled courtyard fronting this ultra designer establishment. The hotel enjoys teasing your senses, from a welcome drink at the ice bar, to the constant flurry of scantily clad models on photo shoots, to the lingering alcohol and smoke odours trapped in the ice. One does ultimately feel as if one is staying in a nightclub or a music video.
Although it’s close to Montmartre, and walking-distance from the hip canalsides of Bassin de la Villette and Saint-Martin, one might not feel altogether comfortable walking ‘home’ late at night alone. But, then again, this is as close to MTV as you’re likely to get, and that’s what taxis were invented for – n’est-ce pas?
