Welcome Letter from Hôtel Magique Founder - Milou Neelen
In this letter, Bali-based founder Milou Neelen shares how an imagined hotel world created in a tiny apartment slowly evolved into Hôtel Magique, a boutique creative universe.
A Boutique Dream
I was born in a small city in The Netherlands. From a young age, I was always making things — drawing, painting, writing, exploring anything creative. At sixteen, I studied graphic design and moved to Amsterdam. I painted at night while studying and working during the day, exploring themes and materials that brought ideas to life.
Travel became a goal, but with little budget, I’d wander into hotel lobbies for a coffee or browse souvenir shops to take home a small reminder of my visit. At certain hotels, I noticed I would experience an overwhelming sense of curiosity. A childlike curiosity about guests and doorman stories, the interiors hidden behind closed doors, what it would feel like to spend time there daily, and even imaginary hotel souvenirs I wished existed.
So back in my tiny apartment, after finding beautiful Japanese momi paper during a trip to San Francisco, I created an artwork to make my home feel like a hotel, and painted Hôtel Magique – Open Crazy Late.
Magique quotes started coming to mind: You Are Magique, Je T'Aime Magique, and Never Underestimate the Power of Magique. What started with a single painting slowly expanded beyond the walls of my tiny apartment.
The 'Big Apple' Heart Logo
When I started imagining a name for this world I was building, I had already fallen in love with the words Hôtel Magique. The fun twist of using a name that sounded like a real hotel, but wasn’t. A place that didn’t exist, but could. And so, Hôtel Magique was born.
With a deep love for paper and print, I ordered print samples, translated the magique quotes into printed art prints and greeting cards, built the webshop, and created the branding, imagining Hôtel Magique into real life. Soon after launching the brand in Amsterdam with A Magique Brunch, it quickly gained traction.
Not long after the launch in 2016, my printer, who was running the NYC Marathon for Run For Life, asked if I’d design a limited edition print to support the cause. One artwork featured an apple heart-shaped runner. I kept coming back to that character. It felt like the perfect symbol, combining my favourite city in the world, New York, with love, magique, and the allure of hotel life.
The Power of Magique
After receiving my first order from New York, I came across a picture of this customer at the NYC Women’s March, holding up Hôtel Magique postcards with the words You Are Magique. That moment made me realise those words could mean something different to everyone, yet still create the same feeling: a reminder of magique.
The Art of Hospitality
Hôtel Magique has taken many shapes over the years: from art prints and global collaborations to artist calls, physical spaces, and dreams of a real hotel.
I would have never imagined that this imaginary hotel would eventually travel across the world through art, products, collaborations, artist calls, and even physical spaces. What began as a vision inside a tiny apartment has now found its way into thousands of homes, spaces, and lives around the world.
Along the way, I learned that hospitality not only lives inside hotels, but can just as much live inside a brand, a space, a story, an object, or a piece of art. That is what continues to guide Hôtel Magique: emotion first, product second.
Magique Ahead
To me, magique means that universal sense of wonder, curiosity, and possibility we find in nature, in art, and in human connection. I believe it’s always there, and within us all - even when life feels too busy or overwhelming.
That belief has shaped Hôtel Magique from the very beginning. What started with words, prints, and souvenirs slowly grew into a bigger fascination with atmosphere, emotion, and the way spaces and experiences can make people feel.
Thank you for being part of this journey, and for inviting me into your versions of Hôtel Magique. You are Magique.
— Milou Neelen, Founder of Hôtel Magique
