1.
Pulso Hotel
São Paulo
São Paulo, Brazil’s most sprawling metropolis, is the heartbeat of the nation – which is why Otávio Suriani decided to name his latest hotel in the city Pulso. “It’s a word that’s linked to music and movement, both things that we want to bring to the hotel,” he says. Designed by architect Arthur Casas, Pulso sits on the border between the Faria Lima financial district and the buzzy Pinheiros district. It offers 52 apartments and five suites, all dressed in elegant neutral tones. “Casas designed the entire complex, from the façade to the small details on the lamps,” says Suriani.
Pulso pays tribute to two of the city’s biggest strengths: nightlife and food. Chef Charlô Whately oversees the hotel’s Restaurante Charlô and Boulangerie Cha Cha, the latter of which is part bakery, part deli. “This is a city that never sleeps,” says Suriani. “Our nightlife is crazy.” You can experience it for yourself at Pulso’s Bar Sarau, which is always ready to welcome those craving a nightcap and some intoxicating bossa nova.
pulsohotel.com
2.
Yoruya
Kurashiki
The city of Kurashiki in western Japan has long attracted enthusiasts of folk arts and crafts – it’s home to the Kurashiki Mingeikan, a museum dedicated to the subject – but it also has plenty to offer for those with more contemporary tastes. Fans of modernism will want to visit the Kurashiki City Art Museum, designed by Kenzo Tange, one of Japan’s great postwar architects. Day trippers, meanwhile, come to see the old buildings and tree-lined waterways. Until recently, however, anyone wanting to stay overnight would have struggled to find accommodation to match the surroundings. Now they have somewhere that fits the bill: Yoruya, a 13-room inn in a sensitively converted and extended former kimono merchant’s residence.
The century-old building’s original exterior has been retained, with a simple lantern above the door. Inside, the layout has been designed to mimic the traditional narrow streets known as hiyasai that are a distinctive feature of Kurashiki’s historic centre. Tokyo-based studio Simplicity has brought its signature modern craft style to the interiors – think white plastered walls, well-chosen Japanese prints and art books. The rooms couldn’t be more serene, with low mattresses, cotton pyjamas and baths that are open to the elements.
The operations team, Naru Developments, is led by hoteliers Yuta Oka and Fumitomo Hayase. They’ll be familiar to anyone who has stayed at Tokyo’s Hotel K5 or Onomichi’s Azumi Setoda. Dinner in Yoruya’s counter restaurant centres on local produce: chef Fumio Niimi prepares an omakase dinner that features such delicacies as clam cooked in a whole yuzu fruit and Okayama Nagi beef. Yoruya’s invitingly low-lit bar is open to non-residents; it’s well worth stopping in for a glass of wine or a local saké. Breakfast, best taken in the garden with its flowering crepe myrtle tree, is another treat. Expect fresh sesame tofu, grilled mamakari sardines (a regional speciality) and the chef’s homemade Japanese grape jelly. It’s a perfect start to the day before you hit Kurashiki’s streets to explore the city’s many cultural and historic delights.
yoruya-kurashiki.com
3.
Hôtel Dalila
Paris
Stroll through Montmartre and you’re almost certain to spot a few flowers hanging from residents’ balconies. The recently opened Hôtel Dalila in Paris’s 18th arrondissement is fittingly floral. Its 49 rooms, breakfast area and workspaces were conceived by Bordeaux-based Giovanna de Bosredon (pictured) of Auguri Studio, who designed the seven-floor hotel to resemble a comfortably lived-in Paris apartment.
“Our work here was a combination of architecture, interior design and curating vintage pieces,” says De Bosredon. “Inside the hotel, the chequered tiles and caning are in Montmartre’s colour palettes: the green of its squares, the red of the wine and the orange of the famous Lapin-Agile cabaret.” Among the vintage pieces are a bistro bar made from zinc and metal lamps by French architect and designer Charlotte Perriand.
This mishmash of old-school elements is complemented by more modern Hay sconces, bold carpet colours and metal furniture that echoes the seats found in public parks. The finishing touch? A view of the Basilique du Sacré Coeur. Hôtel Dalila is a true neighbourhood gem. Bravo!
hoteldalila.com
Of all of Paris’s 20 arrondissements, perhaps the most vibrant and fastest changing are the twin neighbourhoods of Belleville and Jourdain. Once among the poorest parts of the French capital, they have become known for lively street markets, an eclectic mix of cuisines and tone-setting arts venues.
Today, the area’s Asian and North African communities rub shoulders with creatives searching for fresh opportunities and lower rents. Around Parc de Belleville, Chinese supermarkets and Tunisian tea salons vie with art galleries, natural-wine bars and the city’s best third-wave coffee shops (Paris’s less-than-stellar reputation for the beverage has long been a sore point). It’s a refreshingly well-integrated corner of the capital.
Venture towards Parc des Buttes Chaumont and you’ll find village-like Jourdain. Here, Haussmannian buildings mingle with low-rise structures and cobbled lanes, where apéros are sipped in the shadow of lime trees and the hustle of central Paris seems both easily accessible and worlds away.
1.
Read
Les Misérables
Victor Hugo’s novel captures the soul of 19th-century Paris and its residents. Belleville and Jourdain are the city’s grittiest districts in this tableau of stark social contrasts, in which the lower classes face poverty, neglect and exploitation. Pick up a copy from Le Genre Urbain, a well-stocked bookshop with an extensive foreign-language selection that might not have thrived in Jean Valjean’s day.
2.
Stay
Babel
It took a while for small, independent and reliable hotels to arrive in this area but there are now several fine options. The 31-key Babel, near Boulevard de Belleville, is one of them, featuring Berber-inspired décor, an eclectic restaurant and an in-house radio station.
babel-belleville.com
3.
See
The striking view of the city from Parc de Belleville
For one of the best views of the Eiffel Tower, head uphill to the top of Parc de Belleville. In the evening, the park attracts residents who come to watch the sun set behind the roofs of Paris. Afterwards, move on to one of the bars on Rue des Envierges, where things stay lively well into the night.
4.
Eat
Cheval d’Or
An unassuming 1980s Chinese takeaway façade belies one of the city’s most celebrated restaurants. Cheval d’Or stays true to its Asian roots and adds a little modern French bistronomy in dishes such as cockles in Provençal-style XO sauce and, to conclude, île flottante with black tea and tapioca pearls.
chevaldorparis.com
5.
Shop
Bokbar
Gothenburg transplant Natalie Magnusson opened Bokbar in 2022 to share her love for Swedish literature with the French capital. The bookshop’s wooden shelves are lined with translated works by Nordic authors that you can start reading at a table in the cosy on-site café.
bokbar.fr
6.
Drink
Soces
Jourdain’s Rue de la Villette resembles an entire neighbourhood condensed into a single street. From a friendly grocer to a quaint toy shop, you’ll find everything that you need and more. For an apéro, the go-to spot on the block is Socès. It serves glasses of crisp, sparkling Furlani and orange wines alongside just-shucked oysters. As the evening progresses, the menu expands to include more substantial dishes such as gratinated onion soup and tuna carpaccio.
soces.fr
7.
Buy
Harissa from Épicerie Le Caire
Though harissa, a much-loved staple of North African cuisine, is widely available in French supermarkets, nothing compares to the home-made version here. Prepared with red chilli, garlic and a closely guarded mix of herbs and spices, Épicerie Le Caire’s offering is fragrant, spicy and not for the faint of heart.
8.
Visit
Parc des Buttes Chaumont
In a city short on greenery, Buttes Chaumont is a welcome oasis. Once an industrial site, it was transformed into a public park in the 19th century by landscape architect Jean-Charles Alphand, under the guidance of town planner Georges-Eugène Haussmann. The result is a dreamlike garden with dramatic rock formations, a hilltop pavilion and lush lawns, all ideal for an autumn picnic.
9.
Order
A cortado at Candle Kids
In this once working-class district, a café such as Candle Kids would have been unimaginable even a few years ago. Across the street from a traditional PMU betting shop, the space represents a shift towards third-wave coffee culture, which Paris was initially slow to embrace. Come for the perfectly frothy cortados and stay for the interiors,with concrete finishes and custom-made wooden furniture by Studio Ebur.
10.
Don’t miss
Théâtre de Belleville
Parisians spend many an evening at their local theatre to engage with the latest plays by the country’s leading intellectuals. In a hall that dates back to 1850, the Théâtre de Belleville has hosted productions by acclaimed writers such as Léonore Confino and Laurent Gaudé. This a neighbourhood that knows how to put on a show.
