8 Best Hotels in Paris

Art aficionados will feel right at home at Le Royal Monceau Raffles Paris, a modern palace hotel with a one-of-a-kind art collection and an on-site contemporary gallery. Reimagined by design provocateur Philippe Starck in 2008, the 149-room luxury hotel sports a whimsical, outré style best captured in details like poetry etched into floor panels, mirrored bathrooms, massive artworks propped up against the walls, and a cascade of chandeliers in the grand stairwell. An art concierge is on hand to answer your questions about the hotel’s collection (which includes work by the likes of Simone Chaput, Lucien Hervé and Joana Vasconcelos), or arrange guided tours of artist studios, galleries and museums.

Coco Chanel lived there for 34 years. Pablo Picasso, F. Scott Fitzgerald and Ernest Hemingway were regulars at its saloon. And Sophia Lauren once described it as “the most romantic hotel in the world.” If that doesn’t sell you on the Ritz Paris—the mythic, five-star hotel that reopened in 2016 after a four-year, $200 million renovation—we don’t know what will. The additions are expectedly exciting: there’s now a Versailles-style garden, a subterranean ballroom, the world’s first Chanel spa, and a tunnel built to allow the rich and famous to come and go unnoticed. Thankfully, much of the romance once possessed by the former Coco Chanel home—the red-carpet entrance, original furniture, the iconic Bar Hemingway—remains relatively untouched, ensuring its glamorous, spirited past lives on.

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It doesn’t get more iconic than this century-old Parisian palace, where the façade's vivid red awnings shade window boxes overflowing with scarlet geraniums. Inside, the look is bold and refined: the rooms' Louis XVI style turns into Art Deco the higher the floor, there are heart-stopping views of the Eiffel Tower, and Alain Ducasse’s flagship restaurant, an extravagant space done up in futuristic stainless steel banquettes and dangling crystal chandeliers, has three Michelin stars.

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When redesigning this decadent hotel, interior designer Jacques Garcia drew inspiration from its address in the sinfully sleazy district of Pigalle and the building's former life as an 18th century brothel. You pick up on the hotel's sultry vibe from the minute you walk through the doors and into the atmospheric lobby, with its Art Nouveau lacquer-work and tiling and the tantalizing smell of incense in the air. Upstairs, the boudoir-style guestrooms and suites are each named after a courtesan and feature sumptuous details like peacock feathers, fringed satin lampshades, and velvet poufs. If you really want to spice things up, the hotel’s dimly-lit spa and swimming pool can be booked out for private use.

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Parisian bar mogul Pierre Moussié is taking over the 10th arrondissement. After opening the wildly popular Chez Jeannette and the very boho Brasserie Barbès, he’s now entered the hotel scene with the 18-room Hôtel Providence, housed in an 1854 Haussmannian building. You might describe the look, courtesy of his wife Elodie and friend Sophie Richard, as “eclectic romance” — velvet palm wallpaper from House of Hackney, carpets inspired by Madeleine Castaing designs, Victorian paintings hung above marble fireplaces, and mini bars in every room with cocktail recipe books. Completing the picture: a Gothic speakeasy-style restaurant and bar on the ground floor that could pass for any English aristocrat’s hunting lodge.

Set on a quiet and historic street between the Place de l’Opera and the Place Vendôme, this boutique sleep is sure to spur some serious postcode envy. In addition to the Rodin and Maillol sculptures of Jardin des Tuileries, which is down the street, you’re also close to the Louvre, the upmarket boutique of Rue Saintt-Honoré, and the spectacular Palais Garnier opera house. But as good a base it is for exploring the city, the hotel is also the perfect place to get away from it all: recline with a cup of tea and a coffee table book in the library, opt for a hammam session or a swim in the black-lava rock pool, or kick back in your design-forward guestroom—all Carrera marble, walnut floors, brass trimmings, and soothing shades of pale greens and sages.

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There’s no place that defines romance more than the City of Light. And the historic Shangri-La Hotel Paris, a majestic 1896 limestone mansion renowned for its swoon-worthy Pierre-Yves Rochon-designed spaces, seriously sets the mood. Natural light floods the opulent guestrooms—outfitted in rich textured fabrics, hand-gilded panelling, and neoclassical friezes— and offer commanding views of the Seine and the Eiffel Tower. Take in the sweeping city views from your lush private outdoor terrace, then retreat to the decadent subterranean spa to indulge in a Carita massage in the candlelit treatment rooms.

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With a stay at this Art Deco landmark, you won’t have to wander off-site to experience the height of French haute cuisine. In February, the hotel became the first only property in Europe to have three Michelin-starred dining establishments—Le Cinq with three stars and L’Orangerie and Le George each with one. When you’re not feasting or sampling vinos in the 50,000-bottle cellar, admire the hotel’s masterful flower arrangements courtesy of Jeff Leatham, opt for a spa treatment modeled after Marie Antoinette’s own beauty regimen, or sit in the marble courtyard and ponder the beauty of the 1928 white-stone building.