Experimental Marais, Paris, France
Neo-Gothic Drama Reimagined Through Seventies Parisian Glamour
Why DNA Hotels Loves It
● Tristan Auer transforms the former Sinner into a richer, more mature flagship for Experimental Group without erasing its architectural drama.
● Forty-three rooms combine ecclesiastical details, vintage furniture, bold colour, and carefully chosen design pieces with an unexpectedly residential atmosphere.
● Temple & Chapon, the American Bar, and a Roman-inspired spa make the hotel feel like a complete Parisian world rather than simply a place to stay.
A New Chapter in the Marais
Experimental Marais occupies a former telecoms building in one of Paris’s oldest and most atmospheric neighbourhoods. The property first opened as Sinner, a theatrical hotel shaped by religious references, dark corridors, and provocative staging. For its reinvention as Experimental Group’s Paris flagship, designer Tristan Auer retained the building’s dramatic bones while replacing overt spectacle with something more layered and assured. The mood remains sensual. But the story has changed.
Gothic Architecture, Seventies Optimism
Auer combines ecclesiastical arches, stained glass, chandeliers, and candlelight with the relaxed glamour of the 1970s. The design is built around a fictional traveller whose collected objects, books, fabrics, and furniture gradually fill the hotel. Vintage-style desks, wicker stools, ceramic lamps, abstract artworks, leather banquettes, and Pierre Paulin armchairs soften the stronger architectural gestures. The result is eclectic. Never chaotic. Drama remains, but it no longer overwhelms.
Rooms with Individual Character
The 43 guestrooms and suites feel generous by Parisian standards. Bright walls, tactile fabrics, sculptural furniture, and carefully selected artworks create interiors that feel collected rather than styled. Green and yellow Pierre Paulin chairs introduce moments of colour, while ceramic lamps and fabric-covered tables add softness. The top-floor suite feels closest to a private apartment, with Ligne Roset Togo seating, books, records, and a bathroom inspired by Serge Gainsbourg’s former home. Comfort is always present. Even when the design takes risks.
Dining Beneath the Arches
Temple & Chapon occupies the hotel’s soaring cathedral-like dining room. The redesign replaces formality with low brown leather banquettes, warm lighting, and a graphic 1970s carpet, while chandeliers and candelabras preserve the room’s neo-Gothic grandeur. Chef Mélanie Serre draws inspiration from 1950s New York chophouses, combining oysters Rockefeller, pâté en croûte, grilled meats, and French classics. The American Bar continues the transatlantic mood with Manhattans, Martinis, and cocktails created by Experimental Cocktail Club. The atmosphere is polished. But never stiff.
A Roman Retreat Below Ground
Beneath the hotel, the mood shifts again. The Roman-inspired spa is wrapped in arches, stone, shadow, and candlelight. A heated indoor pool, steam room, and treatments by Suzanne Kaufmann create a quieter counterpoint to the energy above. Wellness feels atmospheric. Not clinical. The contrast is part of the experience.
Why It Works
Experimental Marais succeeds because it evolves rather than erases. Tristan Auer preserves the building’s ecclesiastical drama while introducing greater warmth, maturity, and residential ease. Gothic architecture, seventies furniture, contemporary hospitality, and Experimental Group’s instinct for food and drink come together in a hotel that feels bold without becoming theatrical for its own sake. It is deeply Parisian, confidently unconventional, and entirely at home in the Marais.
