From Hollywood to Hotelier: Jean-Pierre Marois, the Man Who Does It All

From film director to hotelier, restaurateur, and parfumeur, Jean-Pierre Marois, owner of Les Bains Douches in Paris, does it all (and well!).

 A few weeks ago, I sat down with Jean-Pierre Marois, filmmaker and owner of Les Bains Paris, one of the most iconic nightclubs in Parisian history. Today, Les Bains encompasses not only a nightclub, but a hotel, spa, restaurant (Le Roxo), and perfume line (Les Bains Guerbois). We discussed the brand and the man who gave it new life, starting from his Parisian roots, to his time in the film industry, to his most recent success as a hotelier-restaurateur-parfumeur. Read on to discover more.

*All photos courtesy of Les Bains

AH: Jean-Pierre, it’s so nice to have you here today. Can you tell me a bit about yourself? What was it like growing up in Paris?

JPM: It was very pleasant. I’d say that I am a typical product of Parisian culture for better or worse. I grew up on the left bank, near the Luxembourg Gardens. I later studied literature and film in Geneva, Paris, and New York. I was also a film producer for most of my professional life, until I decided to reopen Les Bains in 2015. After that, I quit the film business and focused only on developing the hotel, the brand, and its fragrances. 

AH: Did you have any experiences at Les Bains Douches as a teenager?

JPM: Yes, of course. I started to party at Les Bains at around 15 years old. They were not so strict on the door policy back then. Being there was such a game-changer. Les Bains, especially the first era from 1978 to 1984, was really cutting edge and alternative. For me, it was a complete change of environment from my bourgeois upbringing.  Pretty drastic. From the way people dressed in the club, to the kind of music that was playing, everything was really different from what I was familiar with. It really put me in touch with the vibrant underground culture of the period

.AH: I know that you arrived in New York after the closure of Studio 54, could you tell me what that experience was like?

JPM: New York was fantastic. I’m sad that I missed the Studio 54 era but there were still a couple of really incredible clubs around when I arrived. There was one called Area that I really liked and another called the Palladium. When I was there, I would bump into Basquiat, Keith Haring, all those guys. So, that was really amazing. The pace of the city was so different; the energy was different. I have to say at the time, I really fell in love with America and its optimism. It was so different from what I experienced in Europe. It was definitely an eye-opener in many, many ways. 

AH: I agree with you completely. That's a very interesting point you bring up about optimistic culture in America versus Europe, as well as your experience in New York clubs after the end of the Studio 54 era. Can we discuss what made you want to reopen Les Bains after its closing in 2010?

JPM: I actually didn't want to take it over. As a matter of fact, it closed down in June 2010 because of illegal demolition work and bankruptcy issues. My family owned the building and the city asked us to take over after the last owner’s vacancy. The club however had a nearly 25-year lifespan from 1978 to 2003, when it started to decline. I was motivated by its rich history to try to remake it into something worthy of its past. 

AH: Can you tell me more about its legendary past?

JPM: Yes, before 2003, it was really one of the hottest clubs in Paris. You’d go there for dinner and you'd bump into Puff Daddy, or movie stars like Jack Nicholson and Robert De Niro.

Iman and David Bowie at Les Bains, Getty Images

AH:  Really A-list. 

JPM: Yes, totally. Who else was going there at the time? In the early 2000s, Mickey Rourke was there all the time. And then of course the supermodels era like Naomi, and even Mike Tyson would come by.

Naomi Campbell at Les Bains with Azzedine Alaïa by Foc Kan

AH: Oh really? Oh my God, was he with Naomi when that was happening?

JPM: No, I don’t think so. I do remember seeing him there with his Diamond grill though.

AH: That’s so funny. Very on-brand too. 

JPM: But back to what I was saying earlier, so many people told me that I was crazy and I would never put Les Bains back on the map.

AH: But you did!

JPM: I did. Thank God.

AH: Can you talk to me about your perfume line, Les Bains Guerbois?

JPM: When the original owner of Les Bains went into bankruptcy, he still owned the name, Les Bains. I owned the space, but he owned the brand. So I gathered a team of researchers and discovered that the original space opened in 1885 as a spa, and later a café named Les Bains Guerbois. To fix the branding issue, I decided to name the perfume Les Bains Guerbois with Guerbois in a smaller script, so that it resembled the hotel and restaurant brand. What was so interesting was that a part of the Impressionism movement took place at the café. My research team discovered that many prominent artists of the period frequented the café. It’s so funny because I saw Andy Warhol and Basquiat at Les Bains, but the original owner in 1885 saw Manet, Monet, and Renoir. I thought it was amazing that I own the building; now I own the brand, and then I discovered this incredible, rich past.

Perfume, Les Bains Guerbois

AH: That's such a unique, rich, and artistic history going on there. When did you decide to launch the perfume?

JPM: I launched the cologne in 2016. Two years later in 2018, I launched three perfumes, and since then I’ve come out with one every year. Today, you can find us in 35 countries and 135 boutiques.

AH: So it's really worldwide?

JPM: Yes, you can find us in London, you can find us in Milan, you can even find us in New York.

AH: Amazing.

JPM: It is quite amazing.

AH: I’d love to switch gears and talk more about you on a personal level. How did you get your start in the film industry as a director and producer?

JPM: That was actually my goal from the start. I studied literature and film, as well as a bit of still photography. And then I started doing short films and music videos, which transitioned into writing screenplays. I directed a feature film in the US and a small independent film with Mena Suvari and Bob Hoskins called American Virgin (1999). After that, I founded my own production company called Central Films. I ended up producing more than directing. I produced a film directed by Abel Ferrara called Mary (2005) with Forest Whitaker, Matthew Modine, Juliette Binoche, and Marion Cotillard. It was a great cast; we even won the Jury Prize in Venice. I also co-produced Babel (2006) with Brad Pitt and directed by Alejandro González Iñárritu. The cast was stellar, and it was shot in Japan, LA, and Mexico. It was amazing. I also produced some documentaries by Oliver Stone, a multi-Oscar-winning American director. 

AH: What a career you’ve had. I think it’s safe to say that you're a pretty artistic and creative person, is there anything that inspires you in particular?

JPM: I’m truly inspired by my work. It's amazing to work with master perfumers to develop original fragrances. That's fascinating. I often sit down with our chef and do tastings to update our menu. It's very inspiring. It’s the same with our fragrances, as we test them often. It's a very rich, rich experience. Of course, when I developed my hotels I worked with interior designers. Now I'm working with a design team developing the decor for my latest hotel in the South of France. It's a lot of fun. So my day-to-day work is very inspiring because it's very creative. And I spend my days with the most interesting people, whether it's our head mixologist, the chef, the master perfumers, my art curator, or my music curator for the club. I don't need to go very far to get inspired.

Inside Restaurant Le Roxo

AH: Yeah, it sounds like it. To finish up, I would love to know where you like to go out in Paris when you're not at Les Bains.

JPM: For restaurants, I like La Belle Époque. It's a mostly fashion hangout with people from the fashion industry. Normally, it's very relaxed and laid back. I like a Japanese restaurant called Takara near Palais Royal. It’s been there forever. Nightclubs tend to come and go, unfortunately. However, I do like this small club called the Colonia.

AH: Any favorite travel destinations?

JPM: I have many. I love Sicily. And not necessarily trendy places like Noto, although it is beautiful. I like a place called Scopello, which is an hour's drive from Palermo. I also like Mustique Island in the Caribbean. Lamu in Kenya is nice as well. And above all, I like Saintes-Maries-de-la-Mer Commune, where my new hotel is located. The land is full of horses and bulls, it's very wild. There are even pink flamingos. And it's the best-kept secret in the South of France. 

AH: What's the name of your new hotel? 

JPM: It's going to be called Les Bains.