Combining great luxury and eroticism, these charming suites are increasingly attracting couples who dream of a romantic getaway, in complete privacy. They are called “love rooms” and there are now around ten in Besançon in Doubs.
A very discreet door, a key box, no windows. “It’s the intimate side 100%.”, smiles Noëlla Mercier. She thought of this love nest herself and completely designed it with her husband in the city center of Besançon. For several weeks, she has been welcoming her very first clients there, exclusively couples, who want “get away from their daily lives in a truly special place”, behind closed doors.
Queen size bed, sauna, jacuzzi, massage jet shower, large screen, all the amenities of a high-end hotel room, furnished and decorated to seduce lovers. “With little surprises and gifts that couples will find hidden here and there”, specifies the owner of the place. Manager of a beauty institute next door, she even offers on-site treatments, at an additional cost of course.
It’s just a little discreet place to get together better. I wanted to give couples the opportunity to rewrite their story together. We don’t pamper our couple enough. Today, work, children, family come first. Here, no children, no homework, no meals, we just have to love each other!
Noëlla Mercier, owner of a love room.
Count on 170 to 200 euros per night depending on the day of the week. However, there is no question of renting the room during the day. “This is not the clientele I wanted”, confides Noëlla who does not regret her investment. According to the site lovecation.fr, a platform specializing in these new accommodations, in fact, the profitability of a love room can sometimes climb up to 27%!
Noëlla Mercier opened her love room in September in the city center. • © Emmanuel Deshayes – France televisions
Much wiser, this large “love & spa” apartment opened in September 2022 by Florent Girardin. With his partner, this Dijon resident completely renovated a former commercial premises, rue de Dole, to accommodate a 5-seater jacuzzi on the ground floor. “We also installed a rain shower in a walk-in shower and a king size bed“, he adds. A rather profitable investment there too: he rents his love room 15 to 20 nights per month on average.
This is my first love room. I chose Besançon because there are already between 70 and 80 in Dijon. And it works pretty well. We have couples of all ages who come from all over France.
Florent Girardin, owner of a love room.
Couples who are not necessarily looking for sensuality as is sometimes the case in this type of accommodation. “We can obviously play on the color of the lightingexplains Florent, but we did not want to give this image focused on sex. Here, no sex toys, no Saint Andrew’s Cross.”
In Besançon, the love rooms offer different atmospheres for romantic getaways. • © DR
“It’s more of a romantic atmosphere, it’s not at all a naughty gîte”, confirms Eléa Pauthier. This educator invested in an apartment on the quays, on the banks of the Doubs. Since 2019, she has been renting it to couples who dream of an enchanted break, directly on her website or via a famous online booking platform. “For an evening, they get away from the children. They really like it. I have at least 500 reviews in my guest book and none are negative!”
“They open the door and they are amazed, assures Sabrina Brun. This 45-year-old Milanese woman was in fact the first to open a love room in the Franche-Comté capital. A 50 square meter apartment with Finnish sauna and jacuzzi, at the foot of the Citadel, called “the happiness”, happiness in Italian. It was in 2018. “It didn’t exist here, now they have grown like mushrooms, she admits. In fact, I discovered the concept with my husband and I liked it. I wanted to offer unique, totally personalized stays for couples, while remaining in a romantic, fairly soft atmosphere.”
And couples aren’t the only ones who benefit from it. She sometimes also welcomes groups for “hen parties”. She only rents her love room three to four nights a week, but after a difficult start and confinement, during which she had to close, Sabrina also does not regret having launched into the adventure.
Perhaps further proof of their success, many real estate sites encourage individuals to invest in this atypical formula. According to one of themevery month on the internet, 27,000 people per month do research related to love rooms in France.
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