L'hotel

Hotel description

“No two rooms are the same” — any hotel with even a modicum of personality is likely to include such a phrase somewhere in its promotional literature, and it is bound to be true, at least to some degree, of any hotel selected by Tablet (though there may be a Japanese capsule hotel in our future). Then again, no two snowflakes are the same either, and that's not exactly a compelling argument for sleeping in the snow, is it?

That said, in L'Hôtel's case, it really is true. The rooms really are all different, vastly different, so different they seem to belong to separate hotels or even continents. The Barroco is in Italian Baroque style, the Pagode in an antique Japanese theme, the Léopard is finished in leopard-print fabrics, and the Oscar Wilde is in a traditional English style, a partial reconstruction of Wilde's dining room in London, featuring framed letters from the staff urging him to settle his hotel bill (which he did not live to do). All of this is carried off with a charm and a mastery that elevates it above gimmickry, into the category of real character, of personality.

Personality, after all, is what makes a hotel a Tablet hotel — not 24-hour room service, or indoor pools, or other standard five-star amenities. What cookie-cutter chain hotel can match L'Hôtel's central spiral staircase, into which sunlight pours through a domed glass ceiling, or the Roman-style bath, housed in the vault beneath the hotel?

There is a restaurant, and a good one — not a three-star spectacle of a restaurant, but an excellent one anyway. Le Restaurant exists not as a public relations scheme, or as a way for the hotel to maximize food and beverage profits, but as a service to its patrons — remarkable food, French but totally modern and light. This restaurant is as popular with the locals as the bar is with celebrities.

Fitting, as the hotel is not designed as a self-contained experience, but as a complement to the attractions of the surrounding district. L'Hôtel is located in St. Germain-des-Prés, the heart of the Rive Gauche, within easy reach of the Ecole des Beaux Arts and innumerable art galleries, cafés, and boutiques. It would be quite reasonable to claim that this is the best location in Paris for a hotel; for those interested in experiencing the authentic Paris, there is no better place to start.

In fact, if this were a boring corporate mega-hotel, the neighborhood alone would make it worth visiting. But this is a phenomenal hotel, full of life and character, and the combination of location and execution make L'Hôtel the place to stay in Paris, and, quite possibly, the perfect Tablet hotel.