Rates: from €159 for a double room
Added extras: fitness room
Services: wifi, room service and restaurant
L’Echiquier is a four-star luxury hotel located a stone’s throw from the iconic Grand Rex and Folies Bergère. It is owned by the Sofitel group and belongs to the group’s collection of MGallery boutique hotels “dedicated to lovers of life, literature and culture”. And this historic building certainly has some stories to tell.
The Echiquier is located on a street which was once frequented by Gustave Flaubert, Victor Hugo and Honoré de Balzac. It is a sumptuous building that was previously a hunting lodge and then a convent, before becoming a hotel in 1850. It was meticulously renovated in 2015 by the Le Coadic Scotto (Yann Le Coadic and Alessandro Scotto's collective). The hotel still enjoys some remarkable souvenirs of its history such as an awning bordered with lightbulbs, an iron elevator cage, the mosaic brasserie floor and stained-glass windows along the stairs. This architecture inside is inspired by art deco but with some of the purity and elegance of contemporary interior design.
There are 88 rooms with linen laminated wallpaper, vermilion velvet curtains, marble pedestal tables and headboards in lacquered wood. Upstairs, the style is sophisticated, classic and largely inspired by the aesthetics of the early twentieth century. The rooms are expertly crafted with discreet mouldings on the ceilings and 1930s-style chandeliers. Comfort is a priority: Clarins bath products, flat screen TVs, minibar, and a fitness room downstairs. Free snacks are available to replenish stocks after a session on the cross trainer.
Another gem of this hotel is the Belle Epoque style brasserie (located next to the lobby) which is open for dinner and breakfast. The beautiful winter garden and its rattan furniture is the ideal place to relax. Don't leave without trying the madeleines, hot and straight out of the oven with a cup of coffee in the morning.