Rates: €450 per night
Added extras: The bar’s cocktail menu
Services: A spa with a rentable private pool
This hotel’s past is certainly colourful. This former brothel is hidden away from the world and keeps the Belle Epoque Pigalle of yesteryear alive – at least in spirit. Through the discreet frontage, don’t be fooled by Jacques Garcia’s Belle Epoque meets orientalist decor. It’s got a serious Arabian Nights vibe: 1895 Cordoba leather on the walls, Moorish earthenware, porcelain, copper and bric-a-brac furniture – all of it is magnificent.
Once you’ve acquainted yourself with its risqué history, you can plunge into the other dazzling commodities: a bar serving delicious cocktails and the spa, complete with a swimming pool you can rent by the hour. What happens behind closed doors, stays behind closed doors…
Upstairs, the twenty rooms and six suites are upwards of €450 but certainly define the meaning of ‘chic’. Each one is named after a different courtesan and embraces various global themes (Japanese, Indian, Chinese) but also keeps to the hotel’s design aesthetic. It’s easy to see why clientele flock here for a real taste of Paris, rather than the picture-perfect postcards. Expect to leave completely enchanted.
