Scarlett

In the cultural history of France, Belleville plays an important role. The neighborhood has served as the setting and inspiration for various films and operas, not to mention La Vie en rose, the 1946 pop single written and performed by its most famous resident, Edith Piaf. But for years, Belleville wasn’t part of Paris: it was a working-class village on a hill outside the city. The Eiffel Tower didn’t exist back then, but if it had, local residents would have seen it from far away, a highlight on the panoramic skyline that spreads out beautifully beneath the slope of Parc de Belleville.

All of this to say: even though it’s a short metro ride away, Belleville has a different character than much of central Paris. It’s eclectic, bohemian, filled with colorful street art and cozy cafés, Chinese markets and Jewish bakeries, paint-splattered artist studios and onetime cabarets turned into cocktail bars. Hotel Scarlett is one of a few stylish new places that’s opened here during a recent wave of gentrification. Fortunately, though, it’s a hotel that feels like an authentic reflection of its place and time. It’s hip but low-key, pretty but practical.

Rather fittingly for this up-and-coming arts enclave, Hotel Scarlett is housed inside an industrial building that was previously abandoned for years. Now it’s a thirty-room boutique hotel that’s filled with artwork and furnishings made of recycled materials — check out the reception desk, built of repurposed wooden shipping crates — and bathed in the glow of lamplight from rows of antique-inspired fixtures suspended from the ceiling. The look is more Restoration Hardware than Art Deco, and that feels about right.

Guest rooms are petite and light-filled, retaining the building’s original floor-to-ceiling windows and featuring amenities from flat-screen TVs to fully stocked minibars to handy workspaces. The continental breakfast is a simple but elegant affair, with its array of organic fruit juices, home-baked breads and exotic fruit jams. You can get a drink here, too — it’s Paris, after all — but Hotel Scarlett isn’t a place to hang around all evening. The whole point is to get out, of course. The hotel staff has set up their system accordingly, conveniently programming the in-room phones to connect guests directly to a curated list of their favorite neighborhood venues — whether you want to squeeze in a workout, buy a painting, or grab aperitifs with the Belleville crowd, Hotel Scarlett has you covered. La Vie en rose, indeed — just a slightly different version of it than you’ll see in the heart of Paris.