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Louise Thomas
Editor
Boutique hotels are somewhat of a buzzword, but Paris. was made for this hotel scene. Palaces aside, Parisian buildings aren’t spacious. They may teeter up to eight or nine floors, but Haussmann buildings often culminate in chambres de bonne, the former maids’ quarters.
Ironically, what would have once been the least desirable rooms (no-one with money wanted to walk up and down eight floors multiple times a day in the pre-elevator age) are now the best rooms in the house, where you can see the Eiffel Tower from bed.
New buildings in Paris city centre aren’t allowed to be higher than 37m, so other than a handful that slipped through before the rules were fixed, Paris is pretty low rise. That means that the city’s most iconic landmarks are widely visible, and you certainly don’t need to be staying in a 500-room tower block to enjoy the best views.
Best boutique hotels in Paris
At a glance
- Best boutique hotel on the Left Bank: Hotel Cabane
- Best boutique hotel in Le Marais: Jules & Jim
- Best budget boutique hotel: La Planque
- Best luxury boutique hotel: Hotel Lancaster
1. La Fantaisie
This hotel ripped up Paris’s monochrome rulebook and threw it from their rooftop garden bar. The ceilings, the walls and even the carpets all bloom with flowers and impossible amounts of colour. The greenhouse-like restaurant (open to the public) is decorated with prints that look as though they’ve been pulled straight from the pages of a botanical guide and an abundance of plants. A slot at the basement spa, where creative mosaics replace florals, is included in the room price.
Address: 24 Rue Cadet, 75009 Paris
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2. Hotel Beige
At the opposite end of the spectrum, this hotel really did follow the rulebook, and is as Parisian in colour palette as a Saint Laurent trench coat. ‘Beige’ may be an uninspiring name for a place, but the aesthetic is really cream, clean whites and light wood, with interiors that perfectly match the light fudge colour of the building façade. In the heart of Paris’s fashionable 9th arrondissement, the historic 19th-century theatre Folies Bergère is just a stone’s throw away.
Address: 12 Rue de Maubeuge, 75009 Paris
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3. Hotel Lancaster
The grand old Lancaster is the kind of hotel that you’d expect to have 300-odd rooms, but despite the enormous building and chandelier bedecked suites, there’s only 54. Over their hundred years in operation, they’ve hosted everyone from the Queen Mother to Marlene Dietrich and her string of lovers. Moving with the times, the latest addition to the hotel is the moodily lit CopperBay cocktail bar, which opened in 2022, and serves drinks such as the tapenade martini and tahini spritz.
Address: 7 Rue de Berri, 75008 Paris
4. La Planque
For the friendliest welcome in the city, head to La Planque, not to be confused with the famous nightclub of the same name. It may not be the most upmarket boutique hotel in the city, but what it lacks in facilities it makes up for in attentiveness (for example, there are no coffee machines in the rooms for example, but free coffee is available in the lobby all day). The quality that you get for the price point is excellent.
Address: 3 Rue Arthur Groussier 75010 Paris
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5. Hôtel Les Deux Girafes
Hanging Edison bulbs in the restaurant, a courtyard terrace positively jungle-like with plants and some oh-so-subtle giraffe print on the walls, Hotel Les Deux Girafes has struck the delicate balance of being tasteful, chic and utterly original. There’s a small coworking space on-site, a gym, spa and bar-restaurant serving light snacks throughout the day. Just 200m from Parmentier metro, it’s well-connected and within easy walking distance of Le Marais, Bastille and Belleville, and some of the best restaurants in Paris.
Address: 23 Pass. Beslay, 75011 Paris
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6. Hôtel Cabane
Not a city person? This one’s for you. Modern, often high-rise Montparnasse isn’t where you’d expect to find a wooden chalet with a private garden. The other 42 rooms are rather more typical, although the polished wood furnishings and tastefully placed houseplants still give the sense that you’re not really in the city. There’s a beautiful little garden for all guests to enjoy, shaded by trees, but there’s no doubt that the chalet room is the pièce de la résistance.
Address: 76 Rue Raymond Losserand, 75014 Paris
7. Hôtel L’Ormaie
With a back to nature theme to mimic the elm grove which once stood here, Hotel l’Ormaie’s muted greens and blues and stone-like textured wallpaper in the elevator makes it feel oxygenated. Rooms are on the small side, but the saying ‘good things come in small packages’ runs true — some of the smallest (and cheapest) rooms on the 6th floor are the ones with Eiffel Tower views. There’s a 45-minute private swimming pool slot included in the room rate.
Address: 97 Rue Lauriston, 75116 Paris
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8. BABEL
It’s difficult to tell which is more colourful, the creative menu of BABEL’s renowned little restaurant or the quartier itself. BABEL opens up onto Rue Lemon, just off Rue Denoyez, an open-air gallery that could rival street art hotspots like Chile’s Valparaíso. This hotel has its own carefully curated soundtrack and a brightly coloured elevator which takes you up through ‘the tower of Babel’. For dinner, expect creative dishes such as artichokes in parmesan crumble and arancini glazed with pomegranate molasses.
Address: 3 Rue Lemon, 75020
9. Jules & Jim
While the art in many of the rooms looks like a 2012 Abercrombie and Fitch storefront (plenty of chiselled abs and hip bones that could cut glass), a stay at Jules & Jim is well worth it to sample the fresh, colourful food and cocktail menu in their leafy courtyard garden. With a mere 23 rooms, service is personal and attentive, the beds exceptionally comfortable, and there’s virtually no noise pollution at night; a definite plus for a hotel this central.
Address: 11 Rue des Gravilliers, 75003 Paris
10. Hôtel Chamar
There are just 24 rooms in this tiny yet shiny hotel in Paris’s 9th arrondissement. Each one is a little art gallery with eclectic prints, woven, tapestry-style cushions, and a hint of Art Deco. Some of the rooms have views over the Sacré-Cœur, and all have large windows to let in plenty of light. The bathrooms, all marbled stone, are beautiful — it’s just a shame that they’ve succumbed to the trend of replacing opaque bathroom doors with (distorted) glass.
Address: 35 Rue la Bruyère, 75009 Paris
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