What does the first hotel-cinema in Europe have in store for us?

One of the rooms at the Paradiso © Romain Ricard Hotel

A few days before the hotel opens, It seems that Alisha and Nathanael Kermits have fulfilled their childhood dream. Without hiding their pride or enthusiasm, they show us around some of the thirty-six rooms spread over seven floors and built over a century-old complex, Cinema MK2 located near Place de la Nation in Paris. It is here that the children of Marin Carmitz – a former film producer and founder of the MK2 Group – decided to build their own in-house cinema, Hotel Paradiso, entirely devoted to the seventh art. When he arrives in front of the restaurant next door, we are disturbed by the question: What can this type of establishment consist of? To understand this, we have to go back seven years, long before work begins, when the project was still in its infancy. Then the two business leaders asked themselves a question:Should we imagine a hotel focused on cinema or simply build a hotel suitable for cinema?Once the final result is in front of you, we can conclude that Hotel Paradiso has shortened these two ideas and more than that, that it is a kind of ‘enhanced cinema’.

Also read: Interview with Nathanael and Elisha Kremitz, Mk2 Leaders

When the display is not lowered, you can enjoy the view of Place de la Nation from some of the rooms © Romain Ricard

With rooms that act as private show rooms, The concept of the Paradiso Hotel is clear: to allow movie lovers to enjoy movie viewing conditions as if they were in a room, but this time in the privacy of a room, with a very comfortable bed and a bathtub directed towards a screen. The show thus offers a wide range of rooms, all equipped with the latest viewing equipment. At its simplest, and thus cheapest, is a screen placed above the window – allowing complete darkness once lowered – that reveals two JR artist collages and a tablet on which a film can be selected. Moby, Video Club Carlotta Films, and MK2 Curiosity. Also, when you book at Paradiso, you can order room service, start a music playlist, or play a video game – all with just one tablet.

This is indeed something to admire … but the experience doesn’t stop there. In both wings of the hotel, there is a screening room in the adjacent hall, where you can watch films being shown simultaneously in the cinema below the hotel. In addition, there is a rooftop movie club and karaoke room – nightclub, “La La Land”, where customers can party freely. But the most powerful thing in our eyes is the way in which the Carmitz brothers integrated their hotel into the MK2 Nation cinema: by reserving a room, all clients could attend for a show in one of the halls of the complex and by booking “La Loge”, those wishing to benefit from the privatization experience to Further afield, behind an all-glass room overlooking a room with a hundred seats, they can enjoy the movie presented to the audience … all isolated and with (exceptional) permission to eat and drink or listen to music.

Paradiso Hotel, 135 Boulevard Diderot, Paris XIIth.