Tatler - 2009 Travel Guide - The 101 Best Hotels in the World
Tucked behind the Pompidou and teetering on the edge of the madness that is the Marais, this 16th-century townhouse is historic and original.
This is what we want right now. It's intimate and romantic, with just four rooms, extravagantly renovated, everything painstakingly sourced from the Venetian doors to the fireplaces from Touraine. Big four-posters are a welcome surprise in a city where you often wonder if you've booked a single room by mistake.
"No one gets up before 10, not even the American", declares gregarious owner Yann-Gabriel Hentschke. Breakfast is served until 1pm so the stragglers won't miss out on a hot buttery croissant and cafe creme.
Hentschke's two bouncy chocolate Labradors rule the roost. If they deem you sympathique, a bottle of champagne will appear for an early-evening tipple. It pay seem grandiose, but underneath all this pomp and circumstance is a gem of a hotel that really works.
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