Hôtel Royal Madeleine

Sometimes a grand palace hotel is too much, and an aggressively edgy little boutique hotel is not enough. There’s a third way, and while it might be a harder sell for the glossy magazines, sometimes a hotel like the Royal Madeleine is just right. It’s a fantastically well-located hotel, close to the Palais Garnier and the Saint-Lazare station. And while it dates only to 1976, its aesthetic spans multiple eras; second-generation owner Coralie Legrand and designer Marie-Paule Clout have furnished it with contemporary art, modern furniture, classic architecture, and an up-to-date design sense.

The Royal Madeleine’s 59 rooms and suites range from cozy singles to the 52-square-meter Coco Lili Suite, which comes with a Marshall sound system and a Nespresso machine. Several rooms have private terraces, and all are similarly outfitted and handsomely styled, a single background color providing a backdrop for the richly detailed interior design. Rare in a hotel in this segment of the market is a proper restaurant, but the Royal Madeleine has Arboré, serving bistronomic fare under the direction of chef Ashwin Marius Le Prince; also present is a small but surprisingly lovely spa decorated in a Tuscan style.