Kube Hotel

Rates: €120-310

Added extras: The Ice Kube Bar and a computer in each room

Services: Breakfast, dinner, bar and fitness room

A luxury hotel in the la Chapelle area of Paris. It might not sound like a workable combination and admittedly, it’s not your typical 4-star hotel location. Kube Hotel sits at the bottom of a discreet alley between two kebab stalls and through a classical facade, you’ll find the reception in a glass cube at the heart of the courtyard. The multifunction lobby acts as a breakfast room, diner and bar.

The rooms, like the rest of the place, are cubed – including plenty of angular furniture, with details such as curtains and faux fur slippers adding warmth. Bathrooms open onto the rooms with a simple glass wall separator – expect an unusual stay filled with refreshing surprises.

Throw on mittens and a hat (provided by the bar team) and head for the Ice Kube Bar for the (chilly) cherry on the cake. A real attraction, the ice bar and its minus 7 degrees guarantee a unique drinking session for twenty minutes, depending on your resistance to the cold – or the number of cocktails you get down. This sort of place definitely qualifies as a symbol of Parisian modernism.