November 29, 2010 – Taking interior design (way) past conventional limits, Hôtel Chez Swann on Drummond Street in downtown Montréal is a theatrical accommodation experience like none other: American designer Mary Moegenburg has made sure of it!
From tree trunk coffee tables to S-shaped snakeskin banquettes to surreal grassy green carpets – bringing the outdoors in and with it, fond childhood memories –, all is carefully aligned to create vividly colourful scenes against a dramatic backdrop of white and black. Homegrown artistic talent fills the hotel, with art and installations including Lampi Lampa lamps that are made in Montréal by French eco-designer Emmanuel Cognée, and the entrance hall by Marc Pelletier of Épure-Ébénisterie fame, to name but two.
Faux-Tudor on the outside, bohemian-chic 4-star boutique hotel on the inside, the building itself has quite a history: built in 1919 as La Maison Tudor, it has served as a garment factory, professional offices, a tailor shop and a pub. Now, as you enter the brick entrance hallway, you wonder: is it an art gallery or a hotel? Awash with fabulous artwork, the lobby and rooms of HCS are veritable expositions of local talent.
An extension of celebrated French author Marcel Proust’s exploration of time, space, and memory as outlined in his novel, Swann’s Way – the first volume of his masterwork known in English as In Search of Lost Time and the hotel’s namesake – , each of the twenty-three rooms in this “Warholesque French castle” is a dramatic stage in itself, waiting for your story to play out.
Expect peek-a-boo shower curtains, intense sky-blue neon greetings at reception, repeated swirling motifs throughout the building, plush red boudoir textiles, contrasting yet complimentary furnishings... In short, expect the unexpected at Hôtel Chez Swann!
