Staying in Paris for five days with my niece, I could have easily stayed at one hotel the entire time, however, I was torn between two equally interesting boutique hotels.  So I decided to stay at both as it gave us an excuse to explore two very different arrondissements.  We would spend Saturday and Sunday nights at Hotel Fabric in the luxury hotel in Oberkampf – an area of trendy foodie restaurants, arts, and music.  In a former life, the hotel was a textile factory and while a few remnants of that life remain (high ceilings/windows), the decor pays homage to the past while marrying the contemporary and adding in a few recycled pieces.  The past, present and future co-exist quite nicely here.

 

Location – Hotel Fabric Paris

The 11th arrondissement “Bastille” is primarily residential (my niece would confirm this with “there are no English menus anywhere”, which at eleven she didn’t like).  The hotel is off of the main road of Richard Lenoir.   The hotel is served by four metro lines –  3, 5, 8 and 9.  The closest to the hotel was St. Ambroise on line 9 with Richard Lenoir (line 5) and Oberkampf (lines 5 and 9) a short walk. In this respect, it was easy to move about the city (to the familiar English menus my niece wanted to see to the dismay of my credit card of course). As it was the weekend, during our walks around, we encountered a lot of live music – roaming musicians in the cafe, a band on the sidewalk and yet another near our dinner in an outdoor block party.  The music was a great surprise.

 

The Front Desk/Reception at Hotel Fabric Paris

We arrived at 11:30 am on a Saturday.  With only 33 rooms, I had no expectations that our room would be ready and I was right. The front desk stored our bags and after a quick tour of the spa/restrooms in the basement level we went on to explore the neighborhood and the city with a plan to return at 3 pm to check-in.  We would get back after 7 pm after our full day of shopping, visiting the Arc de Triomphe and dining at Laduree Paris.  We were greeted as we returned and the check in process was quick and easy. Wi-fi is free throughout the hotel. Reception is staffed 24/7.

 

The Lobby at Hotel Fabric Paris

The lobby area consists of three separate spaces each melding into one gorgeous setting.  There are tables with colorful chairs to enjoy breakfast or the evening honor bar offerings.  A long communal table for guests to work, play games or enjoy drinks is in the middle of the lobby.  A leather couch with chairs and a rounded table containing guide books and recommendations awaits guests who want to sink into the comfortable furniture.  The lobby looks just like the website and in person feels welcoming but you do need to leave to explore Paris!

 

Hotel Fabric Superior Room in Paris

Exiting the elevator, we were greeted with a fun, colorful rug and what felt like masculine decor of dark walls with red and yellow accents (a nice change from the bland beige hallways that make me sad at chain hotels).  Our room was near the end on the right.

Entering the room, my eyes immediately saw the orange before moving to the windows, the high ceilings and the natural light streaming through.  The room was much larger than I expected and a sharp contrast to the hotel we had just left, Hotel Atmospheres.

With a nod to the past, the wardrobe was made to look like a shipping container.  It’s contents not quite fragile but still important – hair dryer, safe, etc. with ample storage.

I had to request on the reservation to split the bed into two twins (this is available with the Superior Room category).  The beds were very comfortable and despite a street facing room, we heard little to no outside noise making it easy to sleep (blackout curtains helped too). My niece decided to skip the rest of Sunday sightseeing (Versailles visit on Sunday was too much for her apparently so she nixed Notre Dame and the love locks bridge) to come back to the room to relax and finish reading her book before dinner.  The room was very relaxing to spend time in, unlike other small rooms that you need to escape.  We both could have stayed here all day if we wanted a lazy day watching the World Cup matches, eating our macarons and enjoying room service.

The Bathroom at Hotel Fabric Paris

I heard my niece say “Wow” after sliding the pocket door of the bathroom open.   Seeing the twinkling LED lights in the shower and a small sink area she thought it was cool.  The large ceilings lend themselves to a window into the bedroom at the top.  The toiletries were pure French – L’Occitane – which I use at home, so this was nice.  The bathroom with high ceilings was actually smaller than the bathroom we left but still quite functional and relaxing with both the rainfall and handheld shower options.

Concierge at Hotel Fabric Paris

The front reception does it all.  I was very impressed by the assistance (pre-stay) via email with Jean-Francois.  I asked about tours, tickets, restaurants, etc. even though it wasn’t my first hotel stop.  The information was spot on and the email replies extremely quick.  I booked everything (Eiffel Tower visit, Seine boat ride, Versailles, Arc de Triomphe that required tickets for me – children were often free but still needed a ticket) via email and they didn’t require me to pre-pay as they would charge to my hotel bill.  As I like to complicate things, I had the taxi stop at the hotel when we arrived in Paris before going to our first hotel.  Showing ID, I was handed the packet of tickets and vouchers and told “to enjoy Paris” and that “they look forward to our stay” in three days time.  The service shown in the emails and on-site truly stand out for me as five star.  As a first time visitor (or fourth time), it is comforting to have staff that can organize things for you locally so you can arrive stress free.

Room Service Food at Hotel Fabric Paris

The hotel uses a local restaurant, Le Villaret, as their room service so the delivery times are about 30-40 minutes.  We did not use room service but we did eat at the restaurant and it was a highlight of our Parisian meals.  There are no English menus so I had to rely on my WordLens app (now Google translate) to translate. The lobby does offer a continental breakfast option in the morning for 16€.  The front desk was super kind to allow us a croissant each (no charge) for our very early Versailles departure on Sunday morning as the shops were closed.  A wine bar is across the street, supermarket a few doors away, a bakery down the street and many cafes/restaurants in all directions. You won’t go hungry with so many options nearby.

 

Gym and Spa at Hotel Fabric Paris

I did a peek in and both the gym and spa treatment rooms looked lovely, sadly we did not have time to use either.

Hotel Fabric Paris June Rate

There are four category of rooms which started at the time of our visit (subject to changes) at €143 for the Club Room (lowest category).  As we split the bed into twins, this required an upgrade to the Superior category that would normally start at €167 but due to the Paris Air Show, the room cost €214 after the 15% early booking, pre-paid, non-refundable rate.

Overall – Hotel Fabric Paris luxury boutique hotel

My niece and I really enjoyed Hotel Fabric in Paris and would have liked to have spent more time here to explore both the hotel and neighborhood even more. That said, we enjoyed the quiet area – watching the families enjoy the park, seeing the children play and felt that this was a glimpse into the real Paris only a few stops away from “the English menus” (don’t worry we found a local pizza shop with English menu near the hotel for my niece as a French food break – she laughed at my Italian with the owner). The hotel states it is 4-star, but I’d argue it is definitely 5-star! Everything about Hotel Fabric Paris was fabulous – the decor was high style, the staff was tops in attentive service and the pricing was affordable luxury for me.