Brach Paris

Brach Paris

The first Evok hotel opened in 2018 inside what used to be a 1970s postal sorting facility, and Philippe Starck turned the concrete shell into something completely unexpected. You walk in through glass walls draped with plants and immediately realize this is nothing like the palace hotels on Avenue Montaigne. The whole building feels like a neighborhood gathering spot that happens to have 59 rooms upstairs. African masks hang next to Bauhaus furniture, Surrealist photography lines the hallways, and raw materials (marble, leather, concrete, wood) create this warm, layered aesthetic that's somehow both eclectic and refined. The Sports Club is where Brach gets interesting. This 1930s boxing gym-inspired space takes up the entire basement with a 22-meter pool, Himalayan salt cave, sauna, hammam, and over 100 fitness classes a week. It functions as a members' club for Parisians with a waiting list (they cap it at 1,000 members), so you're working out alongside thirty-something locals in Le Coq Sportif outfits rather than just hotel guests. The energy is genuinely different from a standard hotel gym. Restaurant Brach runs the ground floor with Chef Adam Bentalha (ex-Ritz, ex-Shangri-La) doing Mediterranean cuisine with Levantine influences. The restaurant is open to the neighborhood, so it draws locals for weekend brunch and weeknight dinners. The first-floor Terrace does Italian-inspired sharing plates Tuesday through Saturday evenings (no reservations, just show up after 4:30pm). Yann Brys, who's a Meilleur Ouvrier de France, handles the pastry shop with signature swirl cakes and traditional French pastries you can take away or eat at the counter. The rooftop is the real draw in warmer months. There's a functioning vegetable garden and henhouse (the restaurant uses the produce and eggs), a Norwegian hot tub, and 360-degree views with the Eiffel Tower in the frame. It operates as Villa Minuty in season with a Riviera-themed setup. Suite guests get private access year-round, but it's open to everyone when weather permits. Rooms are bright and surprisingly comfortable for their size. Classic rooms are genuinely small, so book Superior or higher. The suites on the top floor are a completely different experience with private terraces, 180-degree Paris views, some facing the Eiffel Tower, and outdoor Norwegian baths. The design is that same eclectic Starck approach: rosewood, fluted glass, African stools, modernist furniture. Everything feels curated rather than decorated. Brach sits in Passy-La Muette, which is quiet, residential 16th arrondissement but with actual energy because of the hotel. Two minutes to Bois de Boulogne (845-hectare park), easy walk to Trocadéro, and genuinely less touristy than the areas around other luxury hotels. The neighborhood has that established Paris feeling without being stuffy. This is not a traditional luxury hotel. There's no grand lobby (it's on the first floor by the terrace), no palace hotel formality, no white-glove service. It's Philippe Starck doing his maximalist-minimalist thing with a sports club that locals actually use and a restaurant that functions as a neighborhood spot. For some people that's exactly what they want from Paris. For others, it might feel too casual or too scene-y.