Rates: from €250 per night (20m2)
Added extras: A roof terrace with the best view in Paris
Services: Bar, restaurant, terrace & patio
After the Hoxton Paris comes another hybrid hotel to shake up the Parisian dining scene. Filling a huge space formerly occupied by two offices, Hôtel National des Arts & Métiers is sat opposite the museum of the same name. Owned by the group behind Hotel Bachaumont, a high-end favourite not far away in Montorgueil.
Hôtel National Arts et Métiers offers 70 rooms - with or without terraces, street views or overlooking the patio that the hotel surrounds. Each with a made-to-measure finesse, with well-thought design and seamless style poured into each bedroom. And if you want to have a blow-out, then the colossal Penthouse (100 m2 with sitting room, dining room, equipped kitchen and sizeable terrace) can be rented from €999.
Marshmallow-soft duvets, Nespresso machines, monogrammed stationary that’s actually good quality, flat screen TV, spa-style shower - they’ve left nothing to chance here.
But to be honest, while the bedrooms are great, the extras are where it’s at. The sprawling ground floor with the Ristorante National, which has Julien Cohen (Pizza Chic, Grazie) and the duo Jean-Pierre Lopes and Thomas Delafon (Le Très Honoré, Bambou, la Plage Parisienne) at the helm, plus Oscar Quagliarini creating a cocktail list for the bar Herbarium. You’ll hear more Italian spoken than French amongst the staff.
Downstairs draws in an afterwork crowd as chic as the deco, coming in for specialised cocktails and plates of apertivo. Upstairs, however, there’s a little treat for non-hotel residents. The rooftop bar has one of the best views in Paris. A somewhat overused statement these days, but trust us that this is deserved.
Special mention to the brunch, which has done well to avoid the bog-standard offerings and has delicious slow-drip coffee worth waking up for.
Arts et Métiers has always been a bourgeois area, but it’s lost its cool in recent times with new bars choosing to move eastwards for the younger crowds and lower rents. Hôtel National Arts et Métiers is going to change that. Look no further for le spot in the 3rd arrondissement.