Lifestyle hospitality brand Ennismore—part of Accor—recently unveiled Mondrian Bordeaux Les Carmes in the French city’s historic Chartrons district.
Crafted by design visionary Philippe Starck, the Mondrian Bordeaux Les Carmes occupies a 19th-century neo-Gothic structure that once housed the renowned Hanappier and Calvet winery.
In 2018, the Pichet family entrusted the property to Starck, who—in partnership with Jean-François Le Gal of architecture firm Advento—renovated the historic building into a hotel with 97 rooms, a Japanese restaurant, spa, and conference rooms.
The interiors are characterized by an earthy color palette of local stone and rough concrete reminiscent of the original building’s warehouses, complemented by deep carpets with organic patterns and warm, diffused light. The result is a sophisticated aesthetic that echoes the Japanese art of living.
“The Mondrian Bordeaux Les Carmes is born from a love story between the West and the East… [where they are] not blended in, but superimposed,” Starck says.
The guestrooms and suites, envisioned as intimate cocoons, feature natural materials like leather, wood, and boiled wool. Starck’s design concept, which includes hollow-molded concrete walls and reflective surfaces, invites guests to engage in playful optical games.
The hotel’s 180-seat restaurant, led by chef Masaharu Morimoto, evokes a majestic theater, punctuated by Bordeaux brick columns and glassed-in wine cellars. Eastern and Western sensibilities overlap through elements like pagoda lamps nestled in lanterns, calligraphy, and contemporary Japanese art.
“This hotel is a warm place—a place that is clearly French and Bordeaux, but will transport you to a totally invented elsewhere,” Starck adds.
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