Paris_ City Guide (Lonely Planet, 7th Edition) - Lonely Planet [240]
Midrange hotels in Paris offer some of the best value for money of any European capital city. Hotels at this level always have bathroom facilities (showers or baths) unless noted otherwise. These hotels charge between €70 and €160 for a double and generally offer excellent value, especially at the higher end.
Top-end places run the gamut from tasteful and discreet boutique hotels to palaces with 100plus rooms and will cost two people €160 or more a night. And brace yourself at the very top end of the range; according to a comparison done by the Wall Street Journal of the price of a Saturday night in the most expensive suite of a five-star (in this case four-star ‘L’) hotel in eight cities around the world, Paris came out tops at €7600 (followed by New York at €6641, Tokyo at €5450 and London at €5334).
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LOUVRE & LES HALLES
The area encompassing the Musée du Louvre and the Forum des Halles, effectively the 1er and a small slice of the 2e, is very central but don’t expect to find tranquillity or many bargains here. But while it is more disposed to welcoming top-end travellers, there are some decent midrange places to choose from and the main branch of a popular hostel can also be found here.
Both airports are linked to nearby metro station Châtelet-Les Halles by the RER (Réseau Express Régional – regional train service).
HÔTEL MEURICE Map Hotel €€€
01 44 58 10 10; www.meuricehotel.com; 228 rue de Rivoli, 1er; s €620, d €730-910, ste from €990; Tuileries;
With 160 rooms, many of them facing the Jardin des Tuileries, the Meurice’s gold leaf and Art Nouveau glass positively glisten, and its ground-floor restaurant, Le Meurice, is a mainstay of good taste (in more ways than one). The domed Le Dali restaurant with its astonishing canvas and whimsical furnishings, is a light-hearted addition to this otherwise bastion of tasteful reserve.
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HÔTEL RITZ PARIS Map Hotel €€€
01 43 16 30 30; www.ritzparis.com; 15 place Vendôme, 1er; s & d €730-880, ste from €970; Opéra;
So famous it’s lent its name to the English lexicon, the incomparable, the unmistakable Ritz has 161 sparkling rooms and suites. Its L’Espadon restaurant has a Michelin star and the Hemingway Bar is where the American author imbibed once he’d made a name for himself. It’s equally celebrated for its cooking school Click here.
HÔTEL COSTES Map Hotel €€€
01 42 44 50 00; www.hotelcostes.com; 239 rue St-Honoré, 1er; s & d €400-850, ste from €1250; Concorde;
Jean-Louis Costes’ eponymous caravanserai remains an ‘extravagant luxury hotel popular with the jet-set’ (or so says Michelin). Outfitted in the signature Second Empire colours of purple and gold with a Byzantine twist, this 82-room hotel is still very much a darling of the rich and famous. A delightful restaurant takes pride of place in the statue-strewn central courtyard in the warmer months; the basement pool, with Art Deco-ish lounge chairs and lighting, is gorgeous; and the bar and its groovy music compilations are legendary.
GRAND HÔTEL DE CHAMPAIGNE Map Hotel €€€
01 42 36 60 00; www.hotelchampaigneparis.com; 17 rue Jean Lantier, 1er; s €155-180, d & tw €189-235, tr €210-235; Châtelet;
This very comfortable, three-star hotel is housed in the former Hôtel des Tailleurs, a stonecutters’ mansion built in 1562 on a quiet street between rue Rivoli and the Seine. Some of the 43 guestrooms (eg the Louis XIII–style room) are almost over the top but, well, this is Paris. Enjoy.
HÔTEL THÉRÈSE Map Hotel €€€
01 42 96 10 01; www.hoteltherese.com; 5-7 rue Thérèse, 1er; s €150, d & tw €180-250; Pyramides;
From the same people who brought you the Hôtel Verneuil the Thérèse also has chic individually decorated