Inside the inviting grand premier suite unveiled at the Four Seasons Hotel George V in Paris last year, local designer Tristan Auer melded soft, creamy hues with intricate woodwork and richly detailed furniture. From the chandelier-capped dining area to the commodious dressing room and the stunning light-filled marble bathroom, the swanky lair “modernizes French codes,” as he puts it.
Auer, who launched his eponymous atelier in 2002, is well-versed in the nuances of hospitality design, effortlessly “jumping from one style to another because there are many ways to express luxury,” he says. Over the years, he has designed hotels and F&B venues for such brands as Mandarin Oriental, Shangri-La, and Sofitel, paying careful attention to each one’s distinctive personality.
Consider the Experimental Marais, Experimental Group’s 43-key Paris flagship that debuted earlier this year in what was previously the Sinner, another Auer creation. Its arches and stained-glass windows have a neo-Gothic allure, and the Temple & Chapon restaurant, for which Auer collaborated with local artist Clovis Retif, is swathed in a fusion of dreamy brown tones that recalls New York chop houses of yore.
The American Bar, at Experimental Marais, takes cues from New York cocktail lairs
Its atmosphere is unlike the spaces Auer crafted for Rosewood’s 2017 reboot of the Parisian icon Hôtel de Crillon (in 2023, he further brightened the property with his interiors for Butterfly Pâtisserie and Nonos & Comestibles from chef Paul Pairet) or the 2023 overhaul of the Carlton Cannes, a French Riviera mainstay dating from 1911 that is now part of the Regent Hotels & Resorts portfolio.
The curving stairwell at Carlton Cannes is accentuated by a dramatic two-story pendant light
Along with running his own practice, between 2015 and 2021 Auer served as artistic director of the late Wilson Associates’ Paris office. But his keen eye for hospitality first started developing in 1996, when he worked for Christian Liaigre on projects like the Mercer hotel in New York, a Soho hotspot set in a Romanesque revival building. “The design hasn’t changed since its opening, which is interesting for me to see,” he explains. Two years later, Auer signed on as Philippe Starck’s senior project manager.
It was an era when hotels and restaurants took cues from entertainment, when a flashy, theatrical aesthetic was the draw of visiting these establishments alone. But then the idea of luxury dramatically changed, and Auer noticed a significant evolution in consumer habits. “People are not interested in luxury products but in luxury moments. When you build something in hospitality, it’s a legacy for the future that provides memories and experiences for the guests,” he says.
Today’s travelers, he continues, are more educated. They are turned off by cookie-cutter designs and relish all manner of bespoke elements. “They want to learn from a place. Luxury is not something you pay a high price for, but something that is meant for you, made to measure for your wishes, and that anticipates your needs. You should be able to do whatever you want, wherever you want, at what time you want.”
This shift into the personal realm has been vital, infusing the industry with a jolt of humanity that encourages slowing down. “It’s a new vision of our world after being lost for a little bit,” Auer points out. In response to this growing demand for properties that exude connection and depth, he has formed a small department within his studio dedicated to research and development, offering insights on launching new brands and “renewing the DNA” of existing ones, he says.
Pic restaurant at Beau-Rivage Palace in Lausanne, Switzerland is drenched in natural light
Currently, Auer and his team are dreaming up 16 hotels for 12 different luxury brands. One of them, slated for completion in December, is the 51-room Rosewood Courchevel Le Jardin Alpin in the French Alps, a coveted ski destination. The buzzy see-and-be-seen vibe Auer promises will be bolstered by local materials rendered in a modern fashion. “You should always feel the presence of the mountains, but it’s not a pastiche of an old chalet,” he says. “You spend one week per year here, but you want to be reminded of it forever.”
In contrast, the aura at the recently opened Villa Pétrusse in Luxembourg City is decidedly discreet and residential, situated in a Pierre Kemp-designed mansion from 1880. “It’s from the 19th century, so we had no choice but to take the time to respect and restore it,” Auer says.
Across the hotel’s 22 guestrooms, suites, and penthouse—spread throughout the villa and pavilion, site of the former stables—Auer preserved the historic character with oak parquet flooring, bespoke furnishings, and headboards depicting poetic works by 20th-century watercolor artist Sosthène Weis. With its elegant handpainted flourishes, Suite Augustine—Auer’s newly designed VIP hangout at Paris department store Printemps Haussmann—also conjures a private abode.
A glamorous chandelier at Temple & Chapon reinforces the vintage New York chop house feel
Even when he was a child, Auer was sensitive to the notion of environment, lingering in those that appealed, leaving those that didn’t. “The feeling of being in a nice place—the right proportions, the right flow—is more important than the place itself, the decoration, or how it looks,” he says.
Achieving such impact doesn’t have to be convoluted, however. For example, in 2015 he joined forces with local architecture firm RDAI to transform a late-19th-century bathhouse-turned-nightclub designed by Starck into the 39-room hotel Les Bains Paris. A decade later, the property continues to enthrall.
“You can’t imagine how many photographs have been taken of the staircase going down to the club on Instagram, but it’s just black tiles, a glossy finish, and lights. It’s not complicated at all,” says Auer. “It’s not about the most expensive finishes. It’s how you combine them to create an effect.”
This article originally appeared in HD’s September 2025 issue.
