Hotel du Temps Paris

No one arrives in Paris with dreams of staying in an ordinary big-box hotel. Paris beckons when we’re feeling romantic, entertaining fantasies of life as a cafe-frequenting, Seine-strolling local, with a pied-à-terre in a favorite arrondissement to call our own. Few of us will become locals in the truest sense, but that doesn’t mean we can’t pretend while we’re there. Enter the Hôtel du Temps, which combines the best of local living with the hospitality standards you’d expect from Parisian professionals.

The vibe here can only be described as homey — that is, if home is a luxury flat in the 9th Arrondissement (the one with the Palais Garnier opera house and the Galeries Lafayette, a stone’s throw from the cafes of Montmartre and the nightclubs of Pigalle). The bones are the stuff of every Parisian fantasy: an 18th-century mansion retrofitted for 21st-century living, with 22 cozy rooms and one suite. The decor, the work of fashion stylist Alix Thomsen and set designer Laura Leonard, is slightly kitschy but totally charming — like you’re staying in the apartment of a friend who inherited a few great pieces of furniture and supplemented them with a talent for mixing antiques with modern design.

Make sure to take breakfast, tea, or late-night drinks at the hotel: During the day, sample pastries by Michel Galloyer, and in the evenings, hold court in the leather banquettes in le bar, a favorite of the neighborhood’s hippest residents. There’s no restaurant on the premises, but you’re in Paris, mon cher — there are more cafes and bistros in the area than you’ll be able to visit. Simply take a left out the front door and follow your senses. But if you’re paralyzed with choice, you’ll have access to a curated list of all the best places to eat in the neighborhood, from the perspective of the locals. You’ll fit right in.