Timeline

Heritage classified

Key figures

Origin and history

The Hotel des Roches Noires, built in 1866 by the architect Alphonse-Nicolas Crépinet, is a Second Empire palace built on the beaches of Trouville-sur-Mer. With its 75 initial rooms (up to 300 in 1913), it embodies luxury and modernity, attracting European aristocracy and American billionaires. Enlightened by electricity in 1904, it became a symbol of the worldly times of the Belle Époque and the Folle Years, nicknamed "the king of the Normandy coast".

Launched in 1903, the hotel was partially renovated in 1924 by Robert Mallet-Stevens, who transformed his hall into an Art Deco masterpiece, the architect's unique intact interior. The large hall, with sober lines and bays opening to the sea, retains its original coating, while the American bar disappears after 1945. Requisitioned during the Second World War, he ceased his hotel activity in 1949 to be converted into private apartments.

The hotel is inseparable from major cultural figures: Marcel Proust stayed there regularly between 1880 and 1915, while Marguerite Duras acquired an apartment there in 1963, spending his summers there until 1994. Claude Monet immortalized him in 1870 in an impressionist canvas, and Gustave Flaubert drew inspiration from his passion for Élisa Schlésinger. Ranked a historic monument in 2000 and 2001, its lobby remains an exceptional testimony of the French seaside heritage.

The building also inspires contemporary works, such as Françoise Cadol's musical L'Hôtel des Roches Noires (2012) or Marguerite Duras' films, including Agatha and the Unlimited Readings (1981), shot in the lobby. The Marguerite-Duras association perpetuates its heritage by awarding an annual prize to Trouville, celebrating this place where "look at the sea is looking at everything".

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