Reception at Hôtel Bohem, burgundy wall, round pink banquette and three framed prints of the Sacré-Cœur.

Hôtel Bohem Sacré-Cœur · Paris · 2026

Hôtel Bohem Sacré-Cœur: photographing a Paris property weeks after it opened

Name: Ahoueke Hilaire
Address: Marseille, Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur, 13004, FR
Telephone: +33761751382

Hôtel Bohem reopened on rue Lamarck in March 2026, in a building that had been closed since 2020. I shot it in late April, weeks after the opening, for The Hotels Agency. Two deliveries: rooms and lifestyle in May, the lobby in June.

Services: Hospitality photography, Rooms and public spaces, Lifestyle, Paris
Credits: The Hotels Agency · Collection Vesper

Context

Hôtel Bohem Sacré-Cœur opened in late March 2026 at 53 bis rue Lamarck, on the north slope of the Montmartre hill, fifty metres from Lamarck-Caulaincourt station. The building had been closed since 2020. It holds forty-eight rooms across four design worlds, plus a ground-floor space, the Halo, which serves breakfast in the morning, works as a café in the afternoon and a bar in the evening. The commission came from The Hotels Agency, which runs the property under the Collection Vesper brand. The quote was signed on 12 March, days before the opening.

Challenge

A property that has just opened has nothing to show of itself. No photographs, no press, no reviews. Everything due to go out on the website and the booking platforms in the following weeks had to come from those two days. On top of that came a constraint particular to the decoration: the room wallpaper is a gold line drawing on a dark ground, a surface that swallows light and falls apart under any frontal source. The windows are narrow, the rooms are small, and there is no room to step back.

Approach

The scout happened with the team before the first frame, and the brief set out the needs space by space. I worked in mixed light, keeping the room sconces as ambience and adding a single source matched to their colour temperature, so the wallpaper keeps its relief without anyone guessing a light was added. Rooms were shot in the order of their orientation rather than by floor. Every frame was built with the margin a booking platform crop needs, so that it takes out neither the bed nor the window.

Deliverables

Delivery came in two parts. Late May, the rooms, bathroom and lifestyle set. Late June, the lobby and reception, shot on a second visit. In between, part of the selection was reworked brighter at the agency’s request, against a specific list of frames. Every image is delivered horizontal, square and vertical.

Usage rights

The images are made for the property website and the booking platforms, the use stated by the agency at commission stage. Releases are on file for everyone appearing in frame.

Outcome

The images went live on the website and the booking platforms in the following weeks. The agency’s response to the first delivery: “We are delighted with the result.” The wider context of this kind of Paris commission is set out on the hotel photographer in Paris page.

Black wallpaper with gold line drawings of peacocks and big cats, brass headboard and tan velvet. — Bedroom, headboard detail. The wallpaper draws animals and flowers in gold line on a dark ground.

Light bedroom, grey-green floral wallpaper, midnight blue velvet headboard and a window open on the street. — A room in the street-facing wing, window open in the late morning.

Unmade bed under the gold wallpaper, red and ochre geometric cushions, wall sconces lit. — The Art deco cushions and the brass sconces, lit by the room’s own sources alone.

Made bed, beige cover, geometric cushions, herringbone parquet and striped curtains. — Room ready. The framing leaves the margin that booking platforms crop away.

Geometric cushion thrown in the air above the bed, gold wallpaper and a lit brass sconce. — Lifestyle set. A cushion in flight forces a shutter speed that rules out lowering the light.

Silhouette in a black robe at the open window, foliage and Paris rooftops in backlight. — Window open on the north slope of the hill. The backlight is kept as it is, nothing lifted.

Seated at the edge of the bed in a white robe, towel turban, cup raised to the lips, raking light. — End-of-day light crosses the striped curtains and cuts the robe out against the tan velvet.

White robe and towel turban at the edge of the bed, cup in hand, herringbone parquet. — The same scene vertical, the format the property publishes on its social channels.

Breakfast at the Halo, kilim banquette, pale wood bookcase and a bouquet on a cracked pink wall. — The Halo, on the ground floor: breakfast in the morning, café in the afternoon, bar in the evening.

Burgundy and pale wood reception, round pink banquette, three black and white prints of the Sacré-Cœur. — Reception, delivered in June with the rest of the lobby. The framed prints show the basilica next door.

Bedroom detail, geometric cushion, lit brass sconce and striped curtains at the window. — Detail, in mixed light: the room sconce and the daylight falling through the window.

Something comparable to produce?

Brief a project