Saint James Paris

What is the Saint James Paris?
A prestige hotel in a park in the heart of Paris..?. A great restaurant, complete with a
terrace..? A private club..? It is all of those things, and much more! Part château, part
family townhouse, a blend of grandeur and intimacy, of classicism and extravagance…
Highly Parisian yet decidedly beyond fashion… Indefinable. Unclassifiable.
Simply unique.
It is above all an institution which is treating itself to a new look under the baton of an
eccentric interior designer.

The Saint James Paris is a new
on-the-rocks formula, a cocktail of
elegance, humour and fantasy, to be
enjoyed without moderation!

A FAMILY TALE
An exclusive locale
In 1892, the widow of former President of the Republic Adolphe Thiers commissioned
the construction of the Thiers Foundation in tribute to her husband, to stand at the
location of the first Paris airfield, where Montgolfier balloons used to depart from.
For close to a century, the neo-classical building was a boarding school for brilliant but
penniless university students on a scholarship, and so hosted over 450 young scientists
and researchers up to the year 1985.

A most private venue
From 1985 to 1991, the building was purchased by various British companies and was
turned into a private club, very much in line with the traditional Gentlemen’s circles so
famous in London. Meanwhile, it continued hosting stimulating intellectual debate, as
the ongoing meeting of great minds in the Saint James Club moved into the bar in the
Grand Library for the weekly recordings of Bernard Rapp’s “L’Assiette Anglaise” TV
programme, which lasted into the late 80s.

An extravagant
Family Townhouse
In 1991, The Bertrand Family, who already owned the 4-star Relais Christine Hotel
in Saint Germain, acquired the Saint James Club and proceeded to develop its hotel
business. Then in 2008, while planning a complete makeover of the building, the
Bertrand Family was entranced by the poetic, wild-eyed vision of unorthodox interior
designer Bambi Sloan. So much so that they gave her unconditional carte blanche to stage
the new spirit of the Saint James Paris: the scene was set – it was to be an extravagant
Family Townhouse!
In 2011, the new Saint James Paris opened its doors, revealing a most
special kind of hotel.

AN UNFATHOMABLE LADY
A Renaissance woman
Named after a doe, busy as a bee and brimming with Anglo-Saxon imagination, Bambi
Sloan is the kind of outlandish character that can only stem from a succession of different
lives: raised in New York City from a French/American family and an oddball, artistic
background… An early vocation as a ballerina hindered by injury… Art studies at the
Fine Arts School and Arts Deco School in Paris, and the Graphic Arts School in New York.
Day jobs in advertising agencies and major US magazines. Setting up a fashion PR and
events agency… There is no doubt that she enjoys a wide range of skills and experience!
Outrageous worlds
Ever since childhood, Bambi has had a pronounced taste for mix-and-match reused items
in decoration, as well as a leaning towards bohemian and surrealist themes. Those highly
individual ideas of hers were already expressed in her teenage bedroom, as they are still
in her current “elegant, funky” duplex.
Her first decorating assignment for Harry’s Social Club in London was opened to the
public in December 1999 and gained her instant fame, leading to a slew of orders as early
as January 2000: Parisian flats, a townhouse in Provence, a 16th-century manor in Sussex,
a firm of lawyers, restaurants in London, a Whisky Lodge in Scotland, and recently the
hushed and memorable “Derrière” restaurant in Paris. Every time, Bambi takes over the
premises, gives them a special kind of spirit, and creates a wholly unexpected universe
sprinkled with eccentricity and humour. And every time, she succeeds in inventing a new
and striking equation, full of wit and originality, and invariably convivial.

« Crazy chic » style
This unfathomable lady, a designer like no other, has invented the “crazy chic” style!
With incredible imagination and absolute mastery in genre blending, in mixing colours
and sketches, she stops at nothing! Hijacking codes, blending boldness and chic, skilfully
manipulating trompe-l’œil, merging and mixing, shifting...? It’s only natural to her!
And it was her wild vision of an extravagant Family Townhouse and the fact that she
presented her project in the form of an old family photo album that won over the owners
of the Saint James Paris.
Her mind-blowing decoration is causing a wind of elegant eccentricity to blow over the
Saint James Paris, turning the venerable institution into a unique, unclassifiable venue.

MIND-BLOWING DECO
Power to the imagination
Now that she was free to make her dreams come true, Bambi Sloan conjured up a wild
vision of a private house. Paying due respect to the building’s intrinsic splendour and
with more than a touch of impertinence regarding the interior design, she proceeded to
offer her romantic interpretation of some residence belonging to an original, enlightened
preeminent 19th-century bourgeois family.
Taking Napoleon III style as a starting point, which she describes as a “pileup of all
styles”, the designer has blended fiction and reality, and historical, movie and literary
references.
Accordingly, we note the inspiration from My Fair Lady and Ascot races in the lobby,
Visconti’s The Leopard for the velvet drapes and damask, a nod to Thiers Foundation
students with the “literary marble” bookbinding-style wallpaper on columns and walls,
the Montgolfier balloon wallpaper reminding us of the locale’s early origins, and the
panther carpeting as a reference to Josephine de Beauharnais, the first eccentric to have
used such a motif as decoration.
Sloan’s highly personal vision shakes up all styles, periods and sources of inspiration.
The decoration at the Saint James Paris is an inimitable, unexpected and delightful
cocktail, providing a timeless, unclassifiable ambience.

Made to measure
As with a private house, Bambi has dressed up the rooms one by one, choosing the
appropriate fabric, furniture, paintings and special adornments for each one, often
bargain-hunting across France and abroad to find that rare piece. Blending charm and
treasures, originality and sentimentality, authentic pieces and second editions… Mixing
fabrics from preeminent manufacturers, Lelièvre, Pierre Frey and Designer’s Guild…
Assembling an entire family of ancestor portraits in the dining room… Taming the
panther motif so it runs along the library floor and the lounge’s armchairs… Manipulating
trompe-l’œil with exclusive “Burgundy stone” or “herringbone parquet” carpeting,
guaranteed to take you by surprise… Sprucing up the 300-m² terrace with painted metal
plant furniture, mini-greenhouses and Montgolfier balloons, all serving as arbours and
a setting for a luncheon on the grass… Oh, and the grass? Well, another trompe-l’œil
actually – it is faux English turf, forever green.

Prelude
The entrance to the Saint James Paris causes the first visual shock, plunging you into
some other world, beyond space and time. The lobby is all black and white, every
bit a chic tuxedo jostled by pop art. Then there is a deliberate optical play on mirrors
multiplying special effects of randomly-striped balusters, black-rimmed mouldings like so
many velvet-lined frills all drawn into a dizzying kaleidoscope of floors rising to infinity.
Dead centre, a “chaos of chandeliers” splashes its cascades of light across the entrance,
while the red-carpeted stairway provides a touch of movie festival glamour, completing
this madly theatrical lobby.
Suites with a story
Make no mistake: behind each identical red-lacquered door, there is a unique décor.
Each suite is designed as a guest room, and represents a tale staged by Bambi Sloan.
The designer has invited her familiar characters to come along, inventing a world that
measures up to their charisma. Among the guests, we have John Steed of Avengers fame,
whose room is all striped flannel and English fabric, with a nod to Magritte… The last
Queen of Scotland, whose décor mixes tartan and panther patterns… Madeleine Castaing,
the eccentric designer whom Bambi greatly admires… The Leopard and its princely
quarters…
With a slew of references, hints, highly personal items bargain-hunted during trips to the
Paris Flea Market or elsewhere, every room is a small, sentimental theatre, worked out
into the smallest details, right down to the customised light switches. Humour is an added
bonus.

A VERY SPECIAL HOTEL
A change of pace
While she has taken great care to uphold the building’s splendour, Bambi Sloan has
reinvented all of the reception areas and rooms of the Saint James Paris. She has teased
traditions, revisited Napoleon III style in her own way, all this in a grand collision of all
styles and influences. Under the electrifying impact of this new, impertinent decoration,
the Saint James Paris has changed atmosphere. Far beyond accepted luxury hotel codes,
its transformation into an extravagant Family Townhouse is all but complete, room after
room, a venue that is brilliant, lively, comfortable and welcoming.
Genuine Master of the House
With truly British discretion and benevolent meticulousness, General Manager Yves
Monnin conducts his 70-member ballet with great panache across a 5,000-m² set.
As a hotel on a human scale, the Saint James Paris is almost a family residence, an abode
with loyal employees, and a clientele that is every bit as faithful, after putting up with
the two years of work and the transformations that have occurred in “their” home,
while being impatient to see the end result. The most loyal were even in a position to
“negotiate” with Bambi some of the details or colours in “their” room!

A nugget in the heart of Paris
The Saint James Paris combines all of the services of a château-hotel, the privileges of a
private club and the charm of a preeminent family home.
It is a fabulous venue and a true feast for the senses. For the mind and for conversation,
follow the mythical library and the bar, lounges and meeting rooms… For gastronomic
pleasures, visit the gourmet restaurant... For a breath of nature, the large terrace in the
centre of the park… For fitness and beauty care, the spa with its precious care cabins,
hammams and fitness centre… As for the rest, there are the 48 rooms and suites filled
with beautiful dreams and jealously guarding their special secrets!

A touch of craziness
At the Saint James Paris, we are used to little whims and follies. The park features three
Montgolfier –arbours, not unlike those small 18th- and 19th-century buildings. As for
the Concierge, he will gladly lend you a laptop or rent you a Smart convertible. Then
there is Pilou, a lucky-charm black cat who can be seen freely wandering throughout the
hotel, from the bar to the lobby. This is the house cat.

A GOURMET TABLE
A happy chef
In the kitchens, the Saint James Paris has a substantial asset with Chef Cyrille Robert.
Through non-stop service from 6 am to 11 pm, 7 days a week, from breakfast to room
service, he will satisfy hungers large and small. The highlight of the week is his Sunday
brunch!
The Chef’s resume is as long as a gala menu, a succession of learning stints with
renowned Chefs like Gérard Vié in Versailles, at the Trois Marches and at the Trianon
Palace, as well as Guylaine Arabian at Ledoyen, Alain Rex at the Jules Verne, Marc
Marchand at the Meurice and then at Maxim’s, prior to joining the Saint James Paris,
where he heads a 16-person brigade.
A lover of fresh products.
Every day, Cyrille Robert improvises his Market Menu according to available supplies,
so as to work on products when they are at their best. A gourmet, generous Chef, he is
fond of revisiting traditional cuisine with a special touch – the taste of surprise spices,
the boldness of citrus – to turn the meal into an epicurean experience. With passion and
creativity, he reinvents a brand new menu for every season.

A DREAM SPA
A luxury shrine
By hosting Gemology Spa, the Saint James Paris has made a brilliant alliance combining
exclusivity and excellence. And to seal this alliance and integrate it into this 19th-century
bijou building, Bambi Sloan has designed a fascinating shrine. She has used a subtle
Oriental/Western blend for the decoration: tiling featuring arabesque patterns, like a
carpet leading to the changing rooms and hammams, a baroque velvet couch, boudoir
cabins complete with vanities and large mirrors, “Cordoba leather” trompe-l’œil panels
and the like. For the fitness room, she has chosen the shock of contrasting precious luxury
and cutting-edge technology, using antique chandeliers, Versailles floorboards and the
very latest in exercise machines.
Precious care
At the Gemology Spa, jewellery flows freely as rare minerals contained within precious
care that illuminates the skin.
Founded by Chrystelle Lannoy, the Gemology line is the first comprehensive range
of cosmetics made of precious and semi-precious stones, taking full advantage of the
exceptional properties of those minerals that have very high trace element content. Add
to this the characteristics of Organic Water from New Zealand and of plants protected
from pollution. Anti-ageing, smoothing ruby, anti-stress, relaxing peridot, toning sapphire,
moisturising jade, lifting diamond, enveloping garnet… this precious care will provide
treasures of sparkle, moisturising and toning, through silky textures applied with sensual
gestures. The sumptuous menu offers head-to-toe care to fulfil the wishes of the men and
women who are Saint James Club members or hotel guests.

A PRIVATE CLUB
Small, yet big
A prestige hotel nestling in a park in the heart of Paris, the Saint James Paris shelters a
select Club that belongs to a worldwide network of two hundred and twenty clubs.
The Club provides its members with a privileged setting to hold business meetings, with
exclusive services, permanent access to the bar, restaurant, spa, fitness centre, private
lounge rentals, computer loans, Smart car rentals (failing a Montgolfier balloon!) and
more.
A private circle with an open policy
The Saint James Paris now welcomes outside guests, during evenings Mondays to
Saturdays and for Sunday brunch. Whether popping in after work or taking the family out,
they will be perfect moments to explore the hushed, magical ambience of the mythical
bar, in the Grand Library… To appreciate the cuisine of the gourmet restaurant and its
wild Napoleon III décor... To enjoy the large summer terrace with its Montgolfier-arbours
blending flower and panther motifs…

48 KEYS
Facts
- 20 suites – 65 square meters – from 860 euros
- 10 junior suites – 55 square meters – from 650 euros
- 7 deluxe rooms – 45 square meters – from 510 euros
- 6 superior rooms – 35 square meters – from 450 euros
- 3 boudoir rooms – 30 square meters – from 370 euros
- 2 independent pavilions in the garden, perfect to host families or for a romantic stay in Paris (one of
them offers a private spa) – 70 square meters – from 800 euros
THE RESTAURANT
- Open to Club members from Monday to Saturday, breakfast, lunch and dinner and Sunday brunch
- Open to the public Monday to Saturday from 7pm and for Sunday brunch
- 50 seats inside and 80 seats on the outdoor terrace
- Average spend : 75 euros
- Brunch is at 50 euros, free for children under the age of four, 26 euros for children between 4 and 12
THE BAR
- Open to Club members every day from 9am to midnight
- Open to the public Monday to Saturday from 7pm to midnight
- 30 seats in the library bar and 50 seats on the outdoor terrace
- Light meals served throughout the day
- The house cocktails with or without alcohol range from 15 to 20 euros /
glass of Champagne at 20 euros
THE “GEMOLOGY” SPA
- Two treatment rooms with individual shower
- Two steam rooms
- One exercise room with daylight, private coach on request
THE PRIVATE FUNCTION ROOMS
- The Club Room : 40 guests cocktail style, 26 guests in “U” meeting style
- The Billiard Room : 40 guests cocktail style, 20 guests in “U” meeting style
The access to the “Gemology” spa and to the private rooms is limited to Club members only.
THE SAINT JAMES CLUB
- Individuals and companies can join the Saint James Club and use all the facilities of the Saint James, as
listed above, with no time restriction
- Access to a selected collection of 220 affiliated private clubs around the world
- Annual fee of 1 600 euros per person or 3 950 euros for a company
OTHER SERVICES
- 24 hours room service
- Cle d’Or concierge night and day
- Free wireless high speed internet access
- Free private car park with valet service
- Laundry and dry cleaning service
- Laptop available
- Rental of convertible “Smart” car

43 avenue Bugeaud 75116 Paris, France . phone +33 1 44 05 81 81
www.saint-james-paris.com
Press contacts
L’Instant C Saint James Paris
Afsaneh Salehi Laure Pertusier - Deputy Manager
Phone +33 1 48 05 76 39 / +33 7 86 50 32 93 Phone +33 1 44 05 81 78
afsaneh@linstantcom.com lpertusier@saint-james-paris.com
Interior design by Bambi Sloan Studio
Architect : Antoine Delaire (DGM & Ass.)