TRIBE Paris Batignolles Review: A Secret Garden in the Heart of the 17th Arrondissement (with Photos!)
With a showstopper garden, bespoke artwork, lots of lounge space, and an extraordinarily convenient 17th Arrondissement location, the Tribe Paris Batignolles flips idea of the boutique hotel on its head. The question becomes: does it succeed? Writer Dan Latif investigates.
TRIBE Paris Batignolles Review: A Secret Garden in the Heart of the 17th Arrondissement (with Photos!)
TRIBE Paris Batignolles exterior. Image: Dan Latif.
High: A quiet haven with a heavenly garden and a true living space, perfect for lunch, working, or relaxing in the heart of Paris’ 17th arrondissement.
Lows: All that’s missing is a rooftop with a view of the Eiffel Tower or Montmartre and the Sacré-Cœur.
Verdict: A hotel of very good standing, a quality four-star property, with a warm and welcoming team.
The Room to Get: Seventh floor garden side, ideally with the balcony.
Must Do: Have breakfast in the garden and watch a silent film projected onto the garden wall in the evening.
Editor’s Note
This article was originally written in French. The English translation is provided for convenience and is edited for clarity.
TRIBE Paris Batignolles Hotel Location and Architecture
TRIBE Paris Batignolles exterior. Image: Dan Latif.
An Australian brand created in 2016, Tribe (stylized as TRIBE) opened the Tribe Batignolles as the brand’s first property outside of Australia and its first in Paris and France. Now there are six other Tribe properties in Paris, with one opening in Suresnes soon.
The Batignolles neighborhood, in the 17th arrondissement, has that Parisian charm of sometimes making you feel as though you have left the capital without really leaving it. There is a family spirit here, almost a village feel. Often nicknamed Little Paris, it recalls those pleasant provincial towns with their small boutiques, food shops, artisans along the little streets, and the charm of its pétanque court, which immediately makes you feel elsewhere.
It is in this neighborhood spirit, at the corner of rue Cardinet and avenue de Clichy, that Tribe Paris Batignolles has settled.
TRIBE Paris Batignolles Hotel Arrival and Check-in
Lobby at TRIBE Paris Batignolles. Image: Dan Latif.
Tribe develops the lifestyle concept of the Accor brand, with close attention paid to the interior atmosphere and design, which is extremely important here in order to offer guests a complete experience. The hotel was imagined and designed by Thierry D’Istria. The hotel cultivates a subdued spirit, an intimate atmosphere, with a faux fireplace, soothing materials, soft colors, and spaces where you can settle in without feeling as if you are disturbing anyone.
Work by Rami Mekdachi at the TRIBE Paris Batignolles. Image: Dan Latif.
The interior design was entrusted to Tribe’s artistic director, Rami Mekdachi. His photographs of beautiful American convertible cars can be found here, such as a flashy blue 1950s Cadillac Eldorado, a red Pontiac GTO, as well as other shots of skyscrapers that evoke a New York atmosphere.
Lounge area in the lobby of the TRIBE Paris Batignolles. Image: Dan Latif.
There are also several moods around the lobby articulated through small lounges with refined seating where one finds Nomad lounge chairs by NORR11, elegant with their bamboo seat and backrest and their leather headrest. They invite you to pick up a book and settle in as if at home.
TRIBE Paris Batignolles Hotel Rooms
Double room at the TRIBE Paris Batignolles. Image: Dan Latif.
In the rooms, there is everything you need and nothing more. There is a elegant progression (even at this small scale) with the idea of a foyer, a small kitchen, and finally the bedroom all intact.
Double room at the TRIBE Paris Batignolles. Image: Dan Latif.
The 79 rooms are decorated with one of seven illustrations by Ioanna Vautrin, a Breton artist and French designer, who designed the new chairs for Notre-Dame de Paris and the lamps on board the TGV high-speed trains.
Art by Ioanna Vautrin in the double room at the TRIBE Paris Batignolles. Image: Dan Latif.
A poetic wall decoration, with a touch of artistic sensuality, illustrating a position inherited from the art of loving, somewhat conducive to accidents and aches.
Single room with balcony at the TRIBE Paris Batignolles. Image: Dan Latif.
Some rooms overlook the garden. The single rooms on the seventh floor have a balcony with a view of the garden with vaulted ceilings. The Tribe bed conceals three spaces underneath for storing suitcases, a dead-simple solution we wish every hotel would replicate.
Ours des Batignolles at the TRIBE Paris Batignolles. Image: Dan Latif.
Another detail catches the eye: the hotel mascot, the Ours des Batignolles, which recalls the Pompon bear at the Grand Hôtel La Cloche in Dijon. Here, it exists in a special bicolor version for the hotel, imagined by Studio Moustache.
Hallway at the TRIBE Paris Batignolles. Image: Dan Latif.
From single bed to king-size bed, with notable soundproofing and blackout curtains on the garden side, they make you want to sleep with the window open.
Service in the room at TRIBE Paris Batignolles. Image: Dan Latif.
In the room, there is a coffee machine and a teapot with NEMI Tea and coffee by Café Joyeux. There is also a hairdryer, a steamer, and a fascinating sweatshirt-style bathrobe for relaxing.
TRIBE Paris Batignolles Hotel Bathroom
TRIBE Paris Batignolles Hotel Bathroom. Image: Dan Latif.
The bathroom is hygienic and well organized with opaque windows bringing light in. Amenities are by Kevin Murphy which, beyond the olfactory pleasure and their pleasant texture, are known for their sulphate-free, paraben-free formulas, which nourish and protect the hair.
The Tribe fragrance and candle by Lola James Harper, Rami Mekdachi’s brand, establish an olfactory note specific to Tribe Batignolles, which plays wonderfully with the soaps, cream and Kevin Murphy products.
TRIBE Paris Batignolles Hotel Service and Staff
TRIBE Paris Batignolles Hotel General Manager Candice Guillot. Image: Dan Latif.
Much of the Tribe experience comes through the team, and through each person’s personality. Candice Guillot, General Manager of Tribe Paris Batignolles, is attached to this idea of "embodied hospitality". She prefers that a guest might say, “Oh, I was warmly welcomed by Antoine,” rather than “by the receptionist.”
What she is looking for is for people to remember a conversation, a discussion, rather than a simple “would you like to check in?”
TRIBE Paris Batignolles Hotel Facilities, Amenities, and Garden
Work and lounge areas at the TRIBE Paris Batignolles. Image: Dan Latif.
The ground floor works like a cocoon where one can have lunch and enjoy the garden, which is also open to outside guests.
Meeting room at the TRIBE Paris Batignolles. Image: Dan Latif.
The hotel also has some meeting rooms, as well as a fitness room with a retro look. There is no spa or pool. Parking is nearby or on the street.
Fitness room at the TRIBE Paris Batignolles. Image: Dan Latif.
For remote working, Tribe Hotel prefers to direct guests to the “social hub”, a dining, communal living and networking space, also on the ground floor.
Garden at the TRIBE Paris Batignolles. Image: Dan Latif.
Truly irresistible is this secret, hushed garden just beyond the lobby. A small two-level extension prolongs the atmosphere of the Square des Batignolles, but in the manner of a loosely tended Japanese or English garden. Several corners, different seats, several configurations allow guests to enjoy a haven of peace that recalls the Cité des Fleurs.
Garden at the TRIBE Paris Batignolles. Image: Dan Latif.
This garden rejects the formality of so many in the city. It is quite alive and extremely native. Blackbirds and cats come strolling through as if they already knew the address and nestlings regularly come to check that everything is fine and that the harmony of the place is being respected. Ducks that can often be heard flying over the garden, and sometimes seagulls. It may be a full-moon evening, but fortunately, one is not about to run into a wolf.
Garden at the TRIBE Paris Batignolles. Image: Dan Latif.
Ultimately, life at Tribe almost always involves the garden. Daytime for drinks and snacks. In the evening, the garden becomes the ideal place for a pause or full meal. Even before the silent films are projected in the evening onto the wall opposite, the garden already has something of a silent scene. The birds replace the soundtrack, the cats cross the frame, and you find yourself lowering your voice, as if the place were asking you to respect its silence.
Garden at the TRIBE Paris Batignolles. Image: Dan Latif.
All of this is a striking contrast with the permanent din of horns, warning signals, the rumble of motorbikes and scooters. Impossible, in that moment, to think that you are in the heart of the 17th arrondissement, at the corner of rue Cardinet and avenue de Clichy. Not a sound of cars. Instinctively, you want to keep this place secret.
Blackbird in the Garden at the TRIBE Paris Batignolles. Image: Dan Latif.
TRIBE Paris Batignolles Hotel Food and Dining
Breakfast in the Garden at the TRIBE Paris Batignolles. Image: Dan Latif.
In the morning, the garden again becomes the ideal place to be: having breakfast with the caress of the sun warming you up. While there is no traditional room service, a Grab & Go counter offers fresh drinks and provisions 24 hours a day.
Grab & Go at the TRIBE Paris Batignolles. Image: Dan Latif.
Meanwhile, the menu at Tribe Table, the communal place, offers an original, healthy and indulgent selection.
Grab & Go at the TRIBE Paris Batignolles. Image: Dan Latif.
It includes, notably, a Halloumi Buddha Bowl, composed of grilled halloumi, quinoa, bulgur, chickpeas, red cabbage, avocado, courgette, lemon and tahini sauce. There are also avocado toasts, or grilled cheese made with bâtard bread, a slice of coppa, butter and Comté, served with salad.
TRIBE Paris Batignolles Hotel Conclusion
Garden at the TRIBE Paris Batignolles. Image: Dan Latif.
“Tribe [Paris] Batignolles is a mix of the modern and the old,” sums up Candice Guillot. “The aim of Tribe is to adapt to the local.” In the Batignolles, that means the little streets, the food shops, the artisans, the family spirit of the neighborhood, but also this heavenly garden that one would almost rather not share too much.
TRIBE Paris Batignolles is located at 176 Rue Cardinet, 75017 Paris, France. Information and reservations here.
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With a showstopper garden, bespoke artwork, lots of lounge space, and an extraordinarily convenient 17th Arrondissement location, the Tribe Paris Batignolles flips idea of the boutique hotel on its head. The question becomes: does it succeed? Writer Dan Latif investigates.