Where to Stay in Paris

Going to Paris and looking for a place to stay? If you don’t fancy vacation rentals or bed and breakfast,

Here are two of the best and not to mention the newest hotel in town that is worth checking out.

The Chess Hotel

You’d never guess there was a brilliantly designed contemporary hotel behind the unassuming façade of

this revamped private mansion. But step inside the lobby and the chess theme hits you immediately.

There are checkerboard-tiled floors leading to a smart restaurant with white walls, which is decked out

with lacquered black tables and monochrome artwork. The decor is by Parisian interior designers Gilles et

Boissier and has a glossy edge that’s not dissimilar to the work of Philippe Starck, under whom they both

trained. The hotel doesn’t have a chef, but its simple selection of salads, soups, smoked salmon and

Spanish cheeses – provided by local outfit Da Rosa – is very good. Tea is a rainbow of mini choux buns

from Popelini, one of several neighborhood food shops selling everything from lovely homemade jams to

the organic argan oil you’ll drizzle on your salad. Upstairs, the corridors are lined with a cutting-edge art

collection, and the 50 minimalist bedrooms – some with four-poster beds – have a restful vibe that makes

up for their somewhat cosy dimensions. Best is the top-floor suite with views of the gilded roof of the

Opéra, a vivid reminder that this is a prime location for ballet, concerts and antiques foraging.

www.thechesshotel.com. Doubles from about £135.

Maison Souquet

Just a stroll from the Moulin Rouge and on the same street where Emile Zola lived, Maison Souquet is a

playful tribute to the glory days of the Belle Epoque when the building housed a bordello. Over a century

later, current owners Sylviane Sanz and Yoni Aidan have given it a sumptuous, flagrantly exotic makeover

with eye-catching Moorish details and wonderful antiques (imagine Napoleon III meets Arabian Nights).

There are 20 deeply comfortable rooms, each named after a courtesan and designed by the increasingly

baroque Jacques Garcia (Hôtel Costes, La Mamounia), who scoured the globe for rare fabrics including

richly patterned silks for the theatrical walls, curvaceous headboards and heavy curtains. To this

sumptuous backdrop, Garcia has added elements of audacious naughtiness: boudoir-style sofas, 19th-

century paintings of voluptuous nudes, tasselled lampshades and strategically placed mirrors. After a day

of museum-hopping – the newly renovated Musée Gustave Moreau is nearby and well worth a visit –

book an hour in the private plunge pool and hammam for two. As it gets dark, you’ll find Parisian

sophisticates draped over plush red-velvet chairs in the bar, where Kevin Ligot concocts creative cocktails

(try the gin with caramelized ginger, lime, apple and cinnamon) served with indulgent tapas from the Da

Rosa caterers, who also supply The Chess Hotel, below. There’s no restaurant, but breakfast (order the

truffle hot chocolate) served in the conservatory winter garden is as romantic as you could hope for.

www.maisonsouquet.com. Doubles from about £270.