French Literature Reviews - 2026

C. Barrère, C. Lévy-Vroélant, Furnished Hotels in Paris: An Investigation into Immigrant Memory
History, Politics and Society

Bibliographic reference: Céline Barrère, Claire Lévy-Vroélant, Furnished Hotels in Paris: An Investigation into Immigrant Memory, Créaphis, "Lieux Habités" series, 2012.

Publisher's overview
"This book stems from an ambitious premise: to approach Parisian furnished hotels as sites of memory. (...) Through interviews with residents and hoteliers, oblivion and remembrance intertwine within a present haunted by both the past and the future. Yet how can memory thrive in these spaces fueled by immigration, marked by domination, and soon to be undone by demolition or conversion into more lucrative uses? (...) We decided to take a closer look, bolstered by the support of memory scholars—first its theorists, historians, and sociologists, and then its transmitters, writers, and museum curators (...) The impending disappearance of furnished hotels and the milieu they represent greatly spurred our determination to push ever further into an investigation that is, in the truest sense, endless. (...) We knew that the furnished hotel served as the initial home for newcomers, whether arriving from neighboring provinces or across borders. We knew that over the span of three-quarters of a century, the number of such establishments had plummeted from over 20,000 to fewer than 800, and from 230,000 rooms to just over 18,000. (...) Heavily stigmatized, the hotel is a paradoxical space, simultaneously an object of idealization and nostalgia. Serving as a backdrop for myths and urban legends across song, cinema, and literature, it also stands—through the people who pass through and inhabit it—as a repository of lives from near and far, deeply rooted in the capital's urban fabric: in other words, places of culture. (...) The migration histories unfolding within these walls currently hold little weight within recognized memorial causes, yet they persist in the accounts of hoteliers and guests, as well as in the literary texts dedicated to them."

About the authors
Céline Barrère holds a PhD in Urban Planning from the Paris Urban Planning Institute and is an Assistant Professor of Sociology and Anthropology at the National School of Architecture and Landscape of Lille. She is a member of the Habitat Research Center (UMR LAVUE of the CNRS - Laboratory for Architecture, City, Urbanism, Environment). Her research focuses on representations of built environments, related social and identity practices, memory conflicts, and the stakeholders of urban heritage in Europe.
Claire Lévy-Vroélant is a Professor of Urban Sociology at Paris 8 University Saint-Denis.
Her work centers on cities, migration, and housing. Adopting a socio-historical approach, she explores marginal forms of housing linked to mobility. She is a member of the Habitat Research Center (UMR LAVUE of the CNRS), the steering committee of the European Network of Housing Research (ENHR), and the editorial boards of the International Journal of Housing Research (EJHR), Housing Studies, and the European Journal of Homelessness. Alongside Ferial Drosso, she edits the "Habitat et sociétés" series at L'Harmattan.

The furnished hotel holds a long-standing position in urban studies and social history as a transitional dwelling for newcomers arriving in capital cities. Within the broader context of migration and housing research, marginal or temporary forms of lodging often serve as vital archives of working-class and immigrant experiences that risk erasure through gentrification and urban renewal. Scholars in sociology and urban planning frequently examine how built environments shape identity practices, social bonds, and the transmission of collective remembrance across generations in changing metropolitan landscapes.

Céline Barrère and Claire Lévy-Vroélant approach Parisian furnished hotels as sites of memory through interviews with residents and hoteliers. The volume addresses the paradox of these heavily stigmatized spaces, which function simultaneously as backdrops for cultural myths and as repositories for migration histories. It examines how oblivion and remembrance intertwine amid the impending disappearance of these establishments through demolition or conversion. Readers interested in urban sociology, migration studies, and the preservation of hidden urban heritage may find this investigation relevant.