Atlanta's Hotel Clermont Fuses Old-World Style With Oh-So-Pretty Jewel Tones
One of a designer's biggest challenges is putting a fresh spin on a property everyone already knows and loves.
That's the situation Carrie Dessertine and Laura Flam, Reunion Goods & Services, found themselves in when hired to reopen Hotel Clermont in Atlanta's Poncey-Highland neighborhood. "As non-Atlantans, we wanted to make sure we did it properly," says Dessertine. Their goal was to merge southern hospitality with a wild streak.
Built in 1924 as Bonaventure Arms Apartments, the property evolved into a hotel with the cabaret-type Clermont Lounge in the basement (it's now more of a dive and strip bar that operates within the hotel but under separate ownership). Over the years, however, Hotel Clermont lost its edge — when Reunion stepped in, the paint was peeling off the walls and ceiling fans were drooping, Flam explains.
The most important piece of the overhaul was maintaining the building's historical status while infusing it with a fresh, fun vibe, so Flam and Dessertine brought in a ton of vintage pieces from the '30s and '70s and embraced vibrant jewel tones. There's also a focus on strong women in the design, which hearkens back to that burlesque lounge but also the current ownership, which is female. To that end, black-and-white portraits of women hang in the lounge.
1. Exterior
With a grand reopening in June of 2018, the team made a conscious decision to retain the original green-and-white signage, honoring locals' love for this building and its history.
2. Room
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Hung above the beds in each room is artwork sourced through Canvas Art Consultants. Here, the female-centric art is by Sharon Shapiro, who began her career in Atlanta.
3. Room
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Most standard rooms start at $200 per night. The roomy "Flossie" suite (above), sleeps three people and is around $450 per night.
4. Room
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Bedside sconces were sourced from Nashville's Southern Lights Electric.
5. Bath
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Look closely at the wallpaper, and you'll find Atlanta-driven symbols like peach trees and train tracks.
6. Gallery
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The team found vintage butterfly trays on Etsy and hung them as a makeshift art installation in a hallway — the space was quickly named the Butterfly Gallery.
7. Rooftop
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The astroturf, vintage lawn chairs, and clubhouse-like bar dial it back a few decades, especially with the Hotel Clermont sign a few feet up in the air.
8. Restaurant
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In Tiny Lou's, the hotel's French-American restaurant, cane-backed chairs and vibrant wallpaper are a welcome departure from the usual French brasserie decor.