La Maison D’Été, a luxury boutique hotel situated on the east coast of Mauritius, has reopened after extensive renovations. The project included the refurbishment of its 16 bedrooms and public spaces.
South Africa-based interior design firm Fox Browne Creative oversaw the transformation of the island hotel. The rooms, which are available across four categories—Standard, Superior, Deluxe and Honeymoon—now sport pale tropical colors in shades of coral, blue, green and summer yellow, respectively. The public spaces, such as the games room, coffee bar and lounge, were also given a complete makeover. In addition, the hotel’s restaurant has been refreshed. At the beach bar and pool area, the decking was redone, and pool loungers replaced. New crocheted umbrellas were brought in from South Africa, where they were hand-made by a team of craftswomen from Cape Town.
“The hotel’s previous owner was a colorful, flamboyant character. Our aim was to channel her irrepressible joie de vivre into the new hotel style, which reflects the French personality and island lifestyle of Mauritius,” said Chris Browne, owner, and creative director of Fox Browne Creative.
Browne explained that the refurbishment was undertaken with sustainability in mind. “We did not want to wastefully scrap the existing furnishings at the hotel as they were still lovely and so instead, we purchased fabrics on the island and employed local upholsterers to recover the furniture. We also employed local carpenters and joiners as well as other specialist artisans to assist us with the refurbishment and used innovative strategies to reinvent the La Maison spaces without creating needless wastage. In interior design, sustainability is involved in many aspects of a project to deliver long-lasting high-quality design with as low as possible environmental impact, waste, and pollution,” added Browne.
The goal was to create a boutique Mauritian getaway that reflects the intimate “French summer house”—the quintessence of La Maison D’Été.