Vertigo Hotel

Vertigo occupies a Haussmann-inspired building overlooking Place Darcy, at the point where Dijon’s historic centre meets its pedestrian streets. The Palace of the Dukes of Burgundy, Notre-Dame and Musée des Beaux-Arts are all within walking distance. The building began life as a luxury hotel in the late 19th century under Edmond Goisset. Its subsequent history established it as part of Dijon’s social landscape, particularly during the 20th century, when it welcomed an international cast of musicians, actors and travellers.

History in Black and White

Rather than recreate the interiors of the original grand hotel, Vertigo uses them as a counterpoint to a much more graphic contemporary language. Black and white dominate, allowing historic proportions and architectural details to coexist with polished surfaces, mirrors and precisely controlled lighting. The contrast gives the hotel its identity: unmistakably urban and modern, but contained within the architecture of bourgeois Dijon.

Forty-Two Rooms With a Few Tricks

The 42 rooms take the black-and-white concept further, combining compact layouts with unexpected details. Beds appear to float above the floor, mirrors conceal entertainment technology and wardrobe doors perform double duty as bathroom mirrors. Lighting by Hervé Langlais, coffee tables by Maria Jeglinska and selected Ligne Roset pieces introduce recognisable contemporary design without turning the rooms into furniture showrooms. Technology is integrated into the architecture wherever possible, keeping the visual language clean.

The Embassy Lives On

The Embassy Bar provides a more decorative counterpoint to the guestrooms. Its original ornamental ceiling, chandeliers and gilded frames preserve the atmosphere of an old city hotel, while contemporary furniture shifts it firmly into the present. Champagne, Burgundy wines and cocktails make it as much a Dijon address as a hotel bar, with live music and DJs continuing its social role. A darker Cigar Bar changes the mood again through black leather club chairs, dark mouldings and a deliberately intimate atmosphere.

A Spa Below the City

Vertigo’s NUXE spa leaves the stronger contrasts upstairs behind. White curtains and pale surfaces create a quieter environment around an indoor pool, sauna, hammam, treatment room and fitness space. It is a softer expression of the same contemporary approach: simple forms, controlled light and relatively little decoration, hidden inside the historic building at the centre of Dijon.

The Grand Hotel, Recut

Vertigo works because it does not attempt to return the building to an imagined golden age. The Haussmannian exterior, historic bar and surviving decorative details provide enough memory without dictating everything that happens inside. Instead, black and white, contemporary furniture, concealed technology and occasional moments of visual play give the old hotel another identity. In a city synonymous with centuries of Burgundian history, Vertigo offers something different: the traditional French city hotel, sharply edited for the present.