Perpetual Paris

In a city as crowded with high-end accommodations as Paris, a newcomer needs to stay focused on its strengths. Amastan Paris may be a luxury hotel, but it leaves the large-scale pomp and grandeur to the city’s established palace hotels, opting instead for an upscale residential vibe. And while it may be a boutique hotel, it leaves the counterculture edge to the hipster boutiques of South Pigalle; Amastan Paris is cool in a grown-up, elegant sort of way.

The location, a street or two away from the Champs-Elysées, is convenient, and fairly central, but you’re well insulated from street life — once inside you’re struck by the atmosphere of calm. The rooms vary in size and shape, owing to the contours of this refurbished building, but they’re all generous by Parisian standards, and they’re all stylish in a minimalist, modernist-inflected way.

Amastan’s lounge serves breakfast and lunch, as well as cocktails by night, in a space that spills out into an interior garden. And next door is Pop-In, a “project space” dedicated to temporary artistic and cultural installations. So far, so strong — and the best part, if you’re a fan of the big picture, is that Amastan Paris is just the beginning for a brand-new hotel group with its eye on the horizon.