AD Magazine
In Courchevel, Megève, Les Arcs... Here are five new addresses to experience the mountain differently.
La Cachette, in Arc 1600
The pitch: 4 star cosy, 88 rooms in a residence designed by Charlotte Perriand.
Supervised, like the entire resort, by Charlotte Perriand, the hotel La Cachette was built by Robert Rebutato and Alain Tavès in 1971. There are still a few plans annotated by Charlotte Perriand herself, but almost no trace of the original furniture, signed and selected by the architect, except in a few photos... This visionary building remains nevertheless an exceptional heritage in its structure, among the 1392 complexes labeled "remarkable contemporary architecture" of the 20th century in France. Nicknamed the "reclining residence", the hotel is inclined towards the valley from the fifth floor. A cantilever that gives the address its originality and plays with our senses, whether we observe it from the outside or the inside. Bought by the Friendly Hotel Collection group, which already has to its credit the Marcel Breuer-designed Totem in Flaine, La Cachette was renovated by the Patriarche agency with one watchword: to honor the spirit of naturalness desired by its founders. " We wanted to rediscover the fundamentals of Perriand and the teams of the Architecture en Montagne workshop: bring in the light," comments Laurent Chelle, co-founder of Friendly Hotel Collection.
The views are spectacular. On the mountain side, the Olympic slope of La Cachette facing the Combettes lift, and on the other side the Tarentaise valley and the Mont-Blanc. Inside, honor to the raw materials, wood, compressed straw and hemp biosourced in the corridors. Everywhere, the history is recalled, like these sublime photos of the architecture of the building in black and white. Only the "gouttelette" (the interior volume plaster typical of the 1960s in the mountains) has been abandoned. To pay homage to Charlotte Perriand, the furniture has been hunted down: an LC4 lounge chair (numbered Cassina re-edition) with a stained skin, sits in the lobby as well as a few LC1 armchairs facing the spa (with Pure Altitude, Weleda, Physioski treatments), the outdoor jacuzzi and the outdoor sauna. Above the staircase, between the restaurant and the lobby, floats an assembly of colorful Nemo lights by Charlotte Perriand. In front of the concept store, which sells, among other things, reissues of Charlotte Perriand's swivel lamps - found in the rooms - vintage posters reissued by Fred Marchadier's L.A. Galerie and a selection of books and pentagonal tables found at the Arc 2000. Up to the 5th floor, the rooms are part of a classic building structure. On the 5th, a transition before the incline, the rooms have XXL balconies, and then the 6th, 7th and 8th floors culminate in this vertiginous illusionist's peak. The common areas are bright as is the coworking space and the lounge with fireplace that adjoins the bar. The sofas with cushions from the Arpin spinning mill and the furniture found at Selency echo the spirit of the seventies the restaurant, which offers a healthy breakfast corner and, for those who like it, no less than five honeys from the region. A pioneering building, the hotel will be an integral part of the discoveries in the Les Arcs Archi'design festival program (April 3-7, 2023), sponsored by Matali Crasset.
February 7, 2023