Hi Hotel Eco Spa & Beach, Nice, France
Hi Hotel Eco Spa & Beach 4 Stars
“Slick, postmodern furniture and a hip rooftop bar make for one of the most innovative design hotels along the French Riviera.”
Hotel Overview
Review of Hi Hotel Eco Spa & Beach, by Vitali Vitaliev
Would you fancy staying overnight at a hi-tech digital cinema, a museum of modern design, a cutting-edge technology show and at a rather nice hotel - all in one? If so, Hi Hotel in Nice is the place. Designed by Matali Crasset and managed by Phillippe Chapelet and Patrick Elouarghi, who all wanted to create an "alternative upmarket hotel" and "a departure from the traditional concept of luxury", it's been characterised by previous reviewers as "urban, innovative and daring" and compared to an experience from another galaxy.
In the beginning, you may be forgiven for thinking that everything in Hi is transparent: walls, partitions between them, lifts, closets and even bathroom and toilet cubicles. Yes, in my "Techno-corner" a vast bathtub was located in the geometrical centre of the room and the toilet cabin was see-through. In another room, called "Strate", both shower cabin and loo were translucent-yellow and on elevated platforms; a staff member explained that, from their Hi point of view, using a bathroom was not just a bodily function, but a statement.
Matali Crasset saw the hotel guests as "actors, not prisoners of décor" and the hotel itself as "an emphatic space based on activity and modularity".
Again, I am not sure about "modularity", but activity-wise it took me a while to come to grips with all the buttons at the back of my bed designed to operate everything in the room: from the giant TV and DVD player to lights and curtains. A PhD in Mechanical Engineering (which I didn't have) would have come in handy. At night, the buttons were blinking intimidatingly in the dark - indeed, like a dashboard of some intergalactic spaceship…
Back on Earth, "Techno-corner" and "Strate" were just two types of rooms out of nine in Hi (38 rooms altogether), and, unlike inside Hi, there is not enough space in this review to accommodate them all. I'll mention just two more: a "Happy Day and Night" - a sitting room during the day with the "disposable" bed hidden in a wall closet; and "White and White" where, for a change, it was a comfy-looking (and, no doubt, white) four-poster bed - not the loo or the bathroom - that was mounted on a pedestal.
To me, the best (may I say the "Hi-est"?) bits - or the absolute highs - of Hi were: the organic and super-fresh self-service breakfast inside the green bamboo well of a courtyard; the roof terrace with picnic tables and terracotta-laid swimming pool from where a great view of Nice could be admired; coat-hangers in my "Techno-corner" cupboard which made soft musical noise when touched - like wind-chimes; shadow collapsible beds (take in, unfold and have a sleep over!) and coin-operated "honesty bars" in the corridors, the latter selling tiny bottles of French (and duly organic) champagne.
Facilities
Hotel Policies
Rooms
38Come for...
- A hip, trendy party
- Rooftop bar/pool
- Cutting-edge rooms
- High tech gadgetry
- Hi-beach: the hotel's Mateli Crasset designed private beach
Not Suitable for...
- Traditionalists
- Haters of Techno-Pop
Children
Babysitting is available upon request.
Eating in
Rigorously organic and light pre-prepared dishes are offered in the self service Bio Canteen that is open 24 hours. A sushi bar runs in the evening.
The Press Say
"The sleek rooms/white walls and purple resin floors have shutters operated by remote control, while the TV is a projector with a huge pull down screen. Its also not one for shy types, the bathtub is in the middle of the bedroom, and the loo, with pink lighting, is separated from it by a smoked-glass sliding door." Elle 08
Reviews
Review of Hi Hotel, by Robert Such
The design concept for Hi Hotel on the Cote d'Azur is imaginative, innovative, and refreshing. It is a place where notions of luxury and comfort are given a contemporary twist.
The pearly white, ex-boarding house stands on the avenue des Fleurs in Nice. The fun begins right away, as you walk through the funky purple-tinted glass door at the design hotel. Flanking the ramp leading up to the front desk are two low concrete walls with speakers moulded into their surfaces. Here, the unbelievably friendly and smiling staff invited me to make myself at home. Music plays a central role in the daily life of the Hi Hotel. Thanks to French electronic-music label F Communications, melodies fill the space day and night. So, before checking in, please check out the music to see if it is to your taste.
The young French designer Matali Crasset used a delicious palette of raspberry, pistachio, vanilla and chartreuse for the interiors. A mezzanine stacked with books donated by museums, galleries and publishers overlooks the double-height bar and dining area, where chef Mauro Colagreco's cuisine is served. At the far end of the hotel's restaurant is la nacelle, a birch plywood structure that surrounds guests in a light, protective embrace, and resembles the basket of a hot-air balloon. At night, the volume of the music at the design hotel and the strobe lights instantly turn the ground floor into a nightclub.
The hotel's name, Hi Hotel, derives from the red mark, or hi, found on the koi carp. As well as the one-syllable greeting, the owners Philippe Chapelet and Patrick Elouarghi also see the name as an abbreviation for hotel international as the Hi Hotel serves a good amount of international travellers. The name could also stand for hotel interactive as guests have access to Windows XP- and broadband-equipped laptops 24/7. For business-minded folk, the Hi Business office complex is just down the street from the hotel, offering space for meetings and seminars.
Most fun of all is the private beach, a short walk away from the hotel on Nice's magical strech of the Cote d' Azur.
The 38-rooms have no less than nine catergories. I picked the one called 'Strate'. The stratified colour scheme on the walls indicates different functions at different levels - white at the base indicates storage, exemplified by a floor safe, and blue at the top invites guests to have sweet dreams. I wouldn't normally sleep in the same room as I perform my morning offices, but the glass shower and toilet cubicles, in yellow and purple respectively, stand on metal-framed platforms that transform ordinary activities into small performances.
One of Hi Hotel's less radical rooms is called Monospace. This room is divided into three areas distinguished by different colours and materials: an invigorating red sleeping area; a cool white, lounge area with a light wood finish; and a refreshing blue bathroom with a resin floor. 'White & White' is a room with a clinical atmosphere, featuring a bed that looks like a table and a bath that looks like a bed. A room called 'Digital' has pixilated décor, and 'Technocorner' is dedicated to audiovisual delights.
Matali Crasset's world is multipurpose. A poof turns into a table. A small padded table becomes a footstool. And a tabletop converts into a shelf that slides into the wall. Her work has a whimsical nature - what the French call ludique, meaning 'to play' and 'to experiment'. She wants us to have fun. The Hi Hotel and staff certainly invite us to do that.
Review of Hi Hotel, by Jamie Dunford Wood
The Hi Hotel is located in a square, concrete block, formerly an office building, and the cool, industrial entryway is all too predictable. However, once inside, the Hi Hotel warms up. The reception desk is small and approachable, the staff charming and relaxed. The design hotel management work in a glass partitioned office, the door always open to questions.
Two laptops are available for guests to surf, and shelves are stocked with design books and monographs, as well as well chosen design gizmos for sale. Downstairs, the design hotel's café is a largely self service affair - a truly original idea, as guests are invited to make their own cappuccino for breakfast, and small fruit salads and snacks are boxed up for all day munching. Outside, a small courtyard garden looks inviting, with small speakers hidden in the bamboo.
The first thing to confront you as you step out of the elevator at Hi Hotel is an upturned lit d'urgence with the number of the floor helpfully velcro-ed to the side. This "emergency" bed is in fact a rolled up futon, upended, available day and night for guests to drag back to their room. Mini-bar snacks at the design hotel are again in a self service refrigerator on each floor, freeing up the rooms from ugly clutter. The rooms follow four colour themes - but each has a large walk in, freeform shower, in some cases behind the beds, which are low on the floor on wooden platforms. The tone is high design, but done in a witty way - for example the odd goldfish bowl, funky lights etc - and room sizes are decent. Hi Hotel is run with good nature and efficiency, in contrast to so many other design offerings today.