PARIS

Bed and Breakfast
Quai Branly, 7th arrondissement, €95 for two

You don’t get much better views than this; lying in bed and looking out on to the Eiffel Tower, which is only a minute’s walk away. This first-floor B&B has a shared bathroom.

Details: Alcove & Agapes (00 33 1 44 85 06 05, www.bed-and-breakfast-in-paris.com)

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BACKGROUND

• The dirty weekend guide to Europe

• The best places to stay in Florence

• Six of the best quirky hotel rooms

• 13 of the world's most remote hotels

• 20 hot hotels for 2008

Related Links

• Europe's best boutique hostels

• Europe's 20 best hotels under €100

• 20 romantic British hotels for less

Hotel de Nesle
7 rue de Nesle, 6th, from €75 for two

It’s fabulously kitsch in this hotel, owned by a former hippy whose son has painted murals in the 20 rooms. Now, the hotel is more hip than hippy. The Molière room has a chaise longue, candelabra and a bed behind a velvet curtain. One room has its own steam room, but not all have private bathrooms. If you want something a bit different and full of character, this is the place.

Details: 00 33 1 43 54 62 41, www.hoteldenesleparis.com

Mama Shelter
109 rue de Banolet, 20th, doubles from €89

Hear the phrase “designed by Philippe Starck” and it sounds expensive. But Mama Shelter, which opened with 172 rooms last year, proves you can have chic and cheap. In the east of Paris by the Père Lachaise cemetery, it is a bit of a design statement, with concrete walls, bedside lights made from torches and masks, and quotations scrawled on the dining room ceiling. But rooms, with kitchenettes, are sleek and modern.

Details: 00 33 1 43 48 48 48, www.mamashelter.com

Property 405123
Bourse, 2nd, from €80

Self-catering in the centre of Paris staying in this one bedroom apartment ten minutes’ walk from the top tourist sites — the Louvre, Notre Dame and the Seine. It’s just been kitted out in dark modern furniture, with a well-equipped kitchenette opening on to the living room where you can squeeze two more on to the sofa bed — which makes for a really cheap break when you split the cost. Minimum stay three nights.

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