Normandy, Brittany & the Best of the North_ With Paris (Fodor's) - Fodor's [161]
Le Bellechasse.
$$$$ | French designer Christian Lacroix helped decorate all 34 rooms of Le Bellechasse, which is just around the corner from the popular Musée d’Orsay. Guests enter a refreshingly bright lobby of black slate floors, white walls, and mismatched velour and leather armchairs. Floor-to-ceiling windows overlook the elegant patio courtyard. Each room design is unique, but all have an eclectic mix of fabrics, textures, and colors, as well as Lacroix’s whimsical characters screened on the walls and ceilings. Most guest rooms have an open-concept bathroom, with the bathtub and sink in a corner and a separate toilet. Four rooms have doors leading to the patio courtyard. Pros: central location near top Paris museums; unique style; spacious and bright; Anne Semonin toiletries. Cons: street-facing rooms can be a bit noisy. | 8 rue deBellechasseInvalides | 75007 | 01–45–50–22–31 | www.lebellechasse.com | 34 rooms | In-room: a/c, safe, Internet, Wi-Fi | AE, DC, V | Station: Solferino
8E ARRONDISSEMENT (CHAMPS-ÉLYSÉES)
Fodor’s Choice | Four Seasons Hôtel George V Paris.
$$$$ | The George V is as poised and polished as the day it opened in 1928: the original Art Deco detailing and 17th-century tapestries have been restored, the bas-reliefs regilded, the marble-floor mosaics rebuilt tile by tile. Rooms are decked in fabrics and Louis XVI trimmings but have homey touches like selections of CDs and French books. Le Cinq restaurant is one of Paris’s hottest tables, and the business center has six working stations with computers and printers. The low-lighted spa and fitness center pampers guests with 11 treatment rooms, walls covered in toile de Jouy fabrics, and an indoor swimming pool evoking Marie-Antoinette’s Versailles. A relaxation room is available for guests who arrive before their rooms are ready. Even children get the four-star treatment with personalized T-shirts and portable DVD players to distract them at dinnertime. Pros: in the couture shopping district; courtyard dining in the summer; guest-only indoor swimming pool. Cons: several blocks from the nearest métro; lacks the intimacy of smaller boutique hotels. | 31 av. George V | 75008 | 01–49–52–70–00, 800/332–3442 in U.S. | www.fourseasons.com/paris | 184 rooms, 61 suites | In-room: a/c, safe, kitchen (some), DVD, Internet, Wi-Fi. In-hotel: 2 restaurants, room service, bar, pool, gym, spa, children’s programs (ages 1–12), laundry service, some pets allowed | AE, DC, MC, V | Station: George V
Hôtel Fouquet’s Barrière.
$$$$ | This luxury hotel opened in 2006 above the legendary Fouquet’s Brasserie at the corner of the Champs-Elysées and Avenue George V. The design, by Jacques Garcia, is more refined retro than opulent, with a rich neutral palette in silk, mahogany, velvet, and leather. The hotel competes with Parisian palaces by offering 24-hour butler service and plasma TV screens hidden behind mirrors and above bathtubs. Le Diane restaurant offers a more feminine atmosphere than the brasserie, and the teak- and red-walled spa claims to have the largest indoor pool in Paris. Pros: many rooms overlooking the Champs-Elysées; bathroom TVs; métro right outside. Cons: anonymous decor; busy street can be noisy; expensive part of town. | 46 av. GeorgeV | 75008 | 01–40–69–60–00 | www.fouquets-barriere.com | 107 rooms, 40 suites | In-room: a/c, safe, DVD, Internet, Wi-Fi. In-hotel: 2 restaurants, room service, bar, pool, gym, spa, laundry service, parking (paid), some pets allowed | AE, DC, MC, V | Station: George V.
Hôtel Le Bristol.
$$$$ | The Bristol ranks among Paris’s most exclusive hotels and has the prices to prove it. Some of the spacious and elegant rooms have authentic Louis XV and Louis XVI furniture and marble bathrooms in pure 1920s Art Deco; others have a more relaxed 19th-century style. The public salons are stocked with old-master paintings and sculptures, and sumptuous carpets and tapestries. The huge interior garden restaurant and monthly fashion shows in the bar draw the posh and wealthy. A lounge