23 July 2025
Petite Passport turns 15 this year, and to celebrate, I’m inviting people who have truly made a difference over the years. Those who introduced innovative hospitality or retail concepts, played a key role in design travel, or opened places we all fell in love with.
This time, I’m checking in with Dorothée Meilichzon, a Paris-based architect you might remember from Hôtel Paradis, one of her first projects in Paris. She has worked on nearly all the hotels and restaurants of Experimental, celebrating local craftsmanship while incorporating unique vintage pieces – ensuring everything feels personal, never generic. Last year, she was named Dezeen’s Interior Designer of the Year, she is featured annually on the prestigious AD100 list and she just finished Mylos Hotel on Corse.
What were you doing 15 years ago?
‘I was already working at my company, CHZON, which I started back in 2009. If I remember correctly, in 2010 I was working on the Experimental Cocktail Club in London, as well as La Compagnie Saint Germain, a wine bar in Paris and the now-closed Beef Club, also in Paris. And right now I’m actually redesigning the London bar, fifteen years later!’
La Compagnie wine bar in Saint-Germain, Paris
A few weeks after the interview took place Mylos Hotel on Corse opened its doors, one of her recent projects. She went to Corse quite a few times to see friends and enjoy the magnificent beaches, neat streets and orange-tiled roofs of Cargèse, where the hotel is located. Centuries ago the Greek arrived in this French town, so in the hotel they mixed the story of the Mediterranean with subtle references to Greek mythology. Such as bathrooms with classical architecture mixed with headboards designed to bring to mind shepherd’s berets. But the most important thing is that the sea is everywhere you look.
You’ve recently finished Mylos Hotel, and have a whole list of restaurants, bars and hotels you’ve worked on. What’s one of your favorite projects of the last years?
‘I don’t really have a favorite: it’s impossible to pick just one. But as a client, I love going to Experimental Beach in Ibiza. Of course for the place itself, but also for the sunset and the whole beach vibe. It always feels special.’
What’s something you bought on a trip and still have good memories of?
‘I love to bring back books and t-shirts from my travels. I’m not super attached to things, which feels weird as I design stuff all day long.’
The view of Experimental Beach in Ibiza
What are your favorite designed spots in Paris?
‘Marché Saint Ouen. Not for its design, but for the design pieces to buy. I’m also very happy to finally have fashion boutique Bode in Paris, near Place de Valois. I’m impressed by the work of furniture and interior design company Green River Project. If I had to pick one restaurant, I will probably choose a traditional French brasserie such as Bistrot Paul Bert, Grande Brasserie of Terminus Nord. I feel at peace in that kind of atmosphere, just watching people and imagining what their lives might be like.’
If people only had one day in Paris what would you recommend them to do as an ideal day?
‘Visit the Jardin des Tuileries and go to Musée des Arts Décoratifs, Musée du Jeu de Paume, or l’Orangerie. All surrounding the Jardin. Place de la Concorde is also worth going, if only because it’s very important in Parisian history. [Ed. Designed in the 18th century to honor the king, it became a symbol for political change in times of the French Revolution. Place the la Concorde is also known for the guillotine: Louis XIV, Marie Antoinette and 1000s of others were executed on this square.]’
The restaurant at the newly-opened Mylos Hotel on the island of Corse
What was the most inspiring trip you’ve ever made?
‘When I was young I went to India and had plenty of time to read and to understand their culture. More recently I’ve been to Korea in 2024 and China in 2025 and was very impressed. Discovering another culture makes me feel alive.’
Apart from Paris, is there a great place you would recommend in the countryside of France?
‘After working on Cowley Manor Experimental I fell in love with the Cotswolds and the British countryside. I’ve tried to bring this vibe back to France while creating my own countryside house near Paris last year. It’s not the same, but I love the British vision of the countryside that I feel is way more rich than ours.’
If you were celebrating your 15th anniversary (or another big milestone), where would you go and what would you do?
‘I still have a pending birthday gift: a kite surf trip to Essaouira with all my friends. Knowing us, we will probably never kite, but we will have some fun.’
Cowley Manor Experimental was an inspiration for Meilichzon’s own countryside home in France
(Images by: Portrait Dorothée Meilichzon by Laura Stevens, La Compagnie Saint-Germain by Mr. Tripper, Experimental Beach Club Ibiza by Mr. Tripper, Mylos Hotel Corse by Julie Ansiau, Cowley Manor Experimental by Mr. Tripper)
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