“Making a film and opening a hotel incorporate similar acts of storytelling,” muses Jean-Pierre Marois, a former filmmaker turned hotelier, responsible for transforming the iconic 1980s nightclub Les Bains Douches in , often referred to as the “European Studio 54” (formerly a public bath house in 1885) into what is now , a culture-filled five-star boutique hotel in the heart of the lively Marais neighborhood. “The concept at Les Bains Paris is to honor the place’s DNA with a concept of wellness and conscious hedonism,” he explains. It’s a spirit that has been reverently revived at the hotel’s cocktail bar and nightclub, and at the spa and pool, which serves as a nod to the property’s bathhouse roots.
Jean-Pierre followed this same alchemy in 2022 when he decided to purchase an existing hotel in the Camargue, an unusually unspoiled part of located just a short drive from Arles and a half mile from the beaches of the Mediterranean. The Camargue is a vast wetland in the Rhone Delta, forming the largest river delta in Europe, where—surrounded by fields of roaming wild horses, bulls, and flamingos—everything feels like a celluloid fever dream. At the time, Jean-Pierre admits, he knew nothing about the region, but was immediately drawn to the unique property that he believed possessed all the makings for the type of hotel he envisioned: horse stables, a restaurant, and outdoor spaces that include the former hotel’s existing swimming pools and tennis court,.
