From the April issue of The Sunday Times Travel Magazine
The complete guide to Paris style hotels

£440 Hôtel La Trémoille

‘A godsend if you’re feeling too romantic to get up’

Fancy a little (window)-shopping in the ‘golden triangle’ between the Champs-Elysées and the River Seine? Make this place your base.

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Set on an inconspicuous street in the heart of the action, discreet, deluxe La Trémoille is giving the glitzy palace hotels in the area a run for their money. It’s smaller, so more friendly; and its interiors have been refurbed in a calm, fashionable French way that makes you feel effortlessly more sophisticated the minute you step through the glass double doors.

Built in 1883, in the prestigious style of apartments lining Paris’s grand streets and boulevards, La Trémoille’s been renovated more times than Parisians have had hot croissants. A 2002 overhaul brought tasteful beiges and greys, expensive flowers and subtle, glassy adornments, while a trendy new bar-restaurant-lounge has added street cred. And as for the bedrooms, all 93 have new-look Art Deco furniture, fluffy carpets, furry bedspreads and marble bathrooms. The pièce de résistance is the ‘hatch’ system for room service: a two-way cupboard that allows staff to deliver your meal without entering the room. A godsend for anyone who’s feeling too romantic to get out of bed.

Hôtel La Trémoille (00 33 1 5652 1400, www.hotel-tremoille.com) has doubles from £440, room only.

£210 The Five Hotel

‘The sexiest place in the Latin Quarter’

The Five’s classical, vanilla-cream facade may blend in with its neighbours, but on the inside, it’s a one-of-a-kind affair: a den of moody lighting, retro-inspired furniture and psychedelic patterns – and that’s just the lobby.

Architect Vincent Bastie (the man behind the city’s two most outré fashion hotels, Murano Urban Resort and Hôtel du Petit Moulin) decorated this boutique gem with all the flair he could muster, metamorphosing a tired, unremarkable building into the sexiest place in the Latin Quarter. Rooms, named after the colours they’re painted (black, blue, pink, white, green, orange, beige and prune), are dotted with fibre optics that evoke a starry sky. And boy, do they smell good: choose from five delicate room fragrances (gourmand, tonic, relaxed, natural and sensual), to match your mood.

It’s all rather Stanley Kubrick – mysterious and eerily retro-modern. But the design is tempered by lots of comfort: plush French fabrics, air-con (not always the norm in Paris), delicious breakfast pastries and flat-screen TVs. For a special treat, the ground-floor suite (all dolled up in bold beige-and-white florals) seduces with a private hot tub and bijou patio. Just don’t expect views – there aren’t any.

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