Nolinski Paris – a palace manner on a Haussmann avenue

Nolinski Paris stands at 16 avenue de l'Opéra, the boulevard Baron Haussmann drove from the Louvre to the Palais Garnier, a few minutes on foot from the Comédie-Française and the gardens of the Palais-Royal. It opened in August 2016 as the first address of what became the Evok Collection group, inside a nineteenth-century Haussmann building that had previously served as offices. Interior architect Jean-Louis Deniot reworked the shell into forty-five rooms and suites spread across six floors, treating each one as a private Parisian apartment rather than a standard hotel room. The effect is a kind of grandeur more often found in much larger palaces, compressed into an intimate, almost clubbish house that the MICHELIN Guide's inspectors describe as embodying bien chic bon genre – good style, good attitude. The MICHELIN Guide gives Nolinski Paris Two Keys, its mark of an exceptional stay.

01The house

Nolinski occupies a Haussmann-era building a short walk from the Louvre, a block that once housed offices and ateliers before Deniot reimagined it as a hotel. Three distinct visions shape the identity of the place: Jean-Louis Deniot handles the interior architecture, gallerist Marie-Hélène de La Forest Divonne curates the contemporary art on the walls, and sound designer Fred Viktor composed a discreet sonic identity that follows guests from the lobby to the upper floors.

The ground floor sets the tone with a minimalist reception in Carrara marble, floor-to-ceiling windows dressed in heavy drapery, dark wood panelling and the original mouldings picked out against slate-grey walls. From there a grand staircase, its ceiling painted with clouds, and a lift lined with painted mirrors carry guests up through six floors, from the animated ground level to the hush of the top storeys.

02Rooms and suites

The house holds forty-five keys, each conceived as a Parisian apartment rather than a conventional hotel room, with neoclassical mouldings set against contemporary comfort and curated artworks chosen to catch the light that floods every space. Some rooms open onto balconies over the avenue below.

Insider tip

Pyramides (lines 7, 14) is directly outside; Louvre and Tuileries a short walk away.

The suites lean into Haussmann proportions with furnishings carrying a 1970s inflection and the feel of a private residence; several can be connected to neighbouring rooms for events. On the fifth floor, the suite known as Joséphine has long been considered the most coveted address in the house, looking straight down avenue de l'Opéra.

03Where to eat

The hotel's dining room now trades as Charbone, open for lunch and dinner behind an open kitchen and interiors by British designer John Whelan that borrow from 1930s Paris without turning nostalgic. Chef Adam Bentalha, Executive Chef of the Evok Collection, built a menu around precise, generous French cooking, organised loosely around raw, slow-cooked and quick-fired dishes, with a weekday lunch menu served in forty-five minutes.

Signature plates run from a truffled croque-monsieur and Charolais beef tartare to a chateaubriand flambéed tableside, a Wagyu cheeseburger and pommes Darphin finished with caviar, with an apple tart built for sharing. In October 2026 the restaurant was listed as open daily until midnight, with breakfast from 7am to 10.30am and all-day dining from noon, closed on Sunday evenings.

04The bar

Le Grand Salon sits beneath a silver-leaf ceiling and beside a bronze fireplace, the kind of room built for lingering over an aperitif in an old-fashioned swivel armchair. Thick tweed curtains, an emerald-and-blue carpet and a striking wall covering by Florence Girette give the room a clubbish, slightly theatrical mood that carries through into the evening's cocktail list and dishes made for sharing.

05Spa and pool

Down on the wellness floor, the Nolinski Spa myBlend opens onto a 15-metre indoor pool lit softly enough that reflections play across a mirrored ceiling. Treatments are handled by myBlend, pairing diagnostic technology with facial and body protocols, including an LED mask used across every facial ritual, alongside a hammam, sauna and a dedicated couples' treatment room.

In October 2026 the spa listed its hours as 9.30am to 8pm, with the pool and wellness areas accessible from 7am to 11pm — useful for guests wanting an early lap swim before the Louvre opens its doors.

06The neighbourhood

Avenue de l'Opéra was Haussmann's own invention, a straight line cut through the city to connect the Louvre with the Palais Garnier, and the hotel sits squarely on that axis, with the Comédie-Française and the gardens of the Palais-Royal within a few minutes' walk and the Tuileries not much further. Rue Saint-Honoré's shopping runs close by, and Pyramides metro station, serving lines 7 and 14, sits directly outside the front door, giving easy access across the Seine or on to Saint-Lazare and Gare de Lyon.

07Making the most of a stay

Check-in runs from 3pm and check-out by midday, with the concierge team arranging restaurant bookings, private transfers and priority access to some of the city's museums around the clock. Pets are welcome subject to prior arrangement with the front desk, and Charbone can be fully or partially privatised for dinners, brand events or business meals just steps from the Palais Garnier.

For a weekend. For a lifetime.