Maison de la Luz New Orleans by Studio Shamshiri & Atelier Ace.

The Ace Hotel’s in-house creative team Atelier Ace have partnered with LA-based Studio Shamshiri on Maison de la Luz, a boutique guest house in the French Quarter of New Orleans. The six-storey stone building houses 67 rooms and was originally built in 1907 as a City Hall Annex, then used as a civic facility ever since. A luxury guest house addition to the existing Ace Hotel, Maison de la Luz was conceived as the home of a worldly traveller who has just returned to the city. Guests experience quirky and personal touches from the get-go, beginning with a tasselled room key on arrival.

The extraordinary interiors draw on the history of the building and reference the multi-cultural nature of New Orleans, including French, African and Spanish elements. In the entrance foyer, a custom chandelier hangs between two staircases, creating bold, Wes Anderson-esque symmetry. An adjoining guest lounge is Egyptian-themed, featuring a hieroglyphic wall hanging, eye symbols and rich yellow upholstery. A hidden door leads through to Bar Marilou, complete with tall ceilings, book-lined crimson walls and velvet furnishings.

Studio Shamshiri wanted bedrooms to feel cloudlike, creating arched openings that emphasize the room’s height, custom mauve paint and diffused lighting creating a soothing effect. Custom pieces include bedside lamps by ceramist Bari Ziperstein and ‘Small Secret Box’ glass vitrines by Clare Crespo that reference New Orleans’ famed spiritual folklores, each of which contains a lock of her daughter’s hair. Bathrooms embrace French luxury, with pale pink surfaces, marble vanities, free-standing bathtubs and heavy curtains.

A careful accumulation of cross-cultural objects displayed in both the public and private spaces add to the sense of being in someone’s eclectic home. Tribal and exotic motifs throughout the hotel include snakes as shower handles and hooks, rugs by Christopher Farr in collaboration with Studio Shamshiri featuring tigers, lions, and pyramids, and animal print fringed bar stools. Public domains all have a unique character, from the aforementioned guest lounge and bar to the breakfast room complete with large-scale botanical textiles and wallpaper.