Henrietta Hotel London, new Covent Garden boutique hotel, Dorothee Meilichzon design
Photography by Karel Balas, unless otherwise noted, courtesy of Henrietta Hotel. There are certain things you can expect to find in a Dorothée Meilichzon–created hotel: A charmingly tipsy mix of materials and design references. Meilichzon runs her own Paris firm, Chzon, and to date has performed top-to-bottom designs for four Paris hotels (go to Affordable Chic at Hotel Panache and Hotel Bachaumont’s Moody Blues for a sampling), along with a roster of restaurants. Located on Henrietta Street in Covent Garden, the hotel occupies 1874 and 1877 buildings previously occupied by a publishing house. Long and narrow no more. Dubbed a “bed and beverage” establishment by its owners, the Henrietta has an eponymous 80-seat restaurant and cocktail bar on its first two floors with a new steel-framed domed skylight modeled after the arched glass ceiling in the Covent Garden Market. Meilichzon’s use of terracotta and green, she says, was inspired by the neighborhood’s brick buildings and vegetable market history. The marshmallowy chairs with brushed aluminum bases are Meilichzon’s homage to French designer Pierre Paulin’s work in the 1970s. Preserved old brick paired with gold-tasseled lampshades by architect-designer Cristina Celestino. To evoke an herbarium, Meilichzon lined the walls with framed pressed flowers made in her studio. The guest quarters are done in four different color palettes. Photograph by Paul Bowyer. The beds are the big moment in every Meilichzon hotel. Each bed frame is hand assembled from individual elements, painted, mirrored, or fabric-covered. Scalloped Carrara marble and sawtooth-edged tiles against shell pink walls in a fanciful—and spacious—bath. A glimpse of the neighboring buildings that Meilichzon looked to for design ideas. The tall brass bedside lamps have long stems that are planted into the bedside tables. Trained as an industrial designer, Meilichzon specializes in hotels and restaurants. Photograph by Paul Bowyer. The guest rooms have brass-edged Carrara marble skirting and terrazzo-patterned custom carpeting. Photograph by Paul Bowyer. To lighten the look of the rooms, many of the furnishings are wall hung, including the brass-and-marble bedside ledges. And instead of the standard hotel pen, there are carpenter’s pencils.