City Guide

Best for Families: An affordable Left Bank choice is the Hôtel de Fleurie, 32-34 rue Grégoire-de-Tours, 6e (tel. 01-53-73-70-00), in the heart of St-Germain-des-Prés. The accommodations are thoughtfully appointed, and many connecting rooms with two large beds are perfect for families. Children under 12 stay free with a parent.

Best Value: Not far from the Champs-Elysées, the Résidence Lord Byron, 5 rue de Chateaubriand, 8e (tel. 01-43-59-89-98), is a classy little getaway that's far from opulent but is clean and comfortable and worth every euro.

Best Location: Only a 2-minute walk from Paris's most historic and beautiful square, Hôtel de la Place des Vosges, 12 rue de Birague, 4e (tel. 01-42-72-60-46), is a little charmer. In a building 350 years old, it is small and inviting, with some decorative touches that evoke the era of Louis XIII.

Best View: Of the 33 rooms at the Hôtel du Quai Voltaire, 19 quai Voltaire, 7e (tel. 01-42-61-50-91), 28 open onto views of the Seine. If you stay here, you'll be following in the footsteps of Wilde, Baudelaire, and Wagner. This 17th-century abbey was transformed into a hotel back in 1856 and has been welcoming guests who appreciate its tattered charms ever since.

Best for Nostalgia: If you yearn for a Left Bank "literary" address, make it the Odéon Hôtel, 3 rue de l'Odéon (tel. 01-43-25-90-67), in the heart of the 6th Arrondissement, filled with the ghosts of Gide, Hemingway, Fitzgerald, Joyce, and Stein and Toklas. Evoking a Norman country inn, this charming hotel lures guests with its high crooked ceilings, exposed beams, and memories of yesterday.

Best-Kept Secret: Built in 1913 and long in a seedy state, the fully restored Terrass Hôtel, 12 rue Joseph-de-Maistre, 18e (tel. 01-44-92-34-14), is now the only four-star choice in Montmartre, an area not known for luxury accommodations. Its rooms take in far-ranging views of the Tour Eiffel, Arc de Triomphe, and Opéra Garnier.

Best Historic Hotel: Inaugurated by Napoleon III in 1855, the Hôtel du Louvre, place André-Malraux, 1e (tel. 800/888-4747 in the U.S. and Canada), was once described by a French journalist as "a palace of the people, rising adjacent to the palace of kings." Today, the hotel offers luxurious accommodations and panoramic views down avenue de l'Opéra.

Most Trendy Hotel: A converted town house, the Hôtel Costes, 239 rue St-Honoré, 1e (tel. 01-42-44-50-50), evokes the imperial heyday of Napoleon III. Fashion headliners especially like it -- Costes is the choice of many a model, as the Paris offices of Harper's Bazaar are close at hand. If you're into swags, patterned fabrics, jewel-tone colors, and lavish accessories, this can be your Gilded Age address.

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