Hôtel Vernet

Sister hotel to the Left Bank’s Bel Ami, the Hôtel Vernet is blessed with a singular location: more or less right at the business end of the Golden Triangle, yards from the Arc de Triomphe itself, in a century-old post-Haussmann building by Albert Joseph Sélonier, with a glass dome designed by Gustave Eiffel himself.

At the risk of straining an already overburdened cliché, it’s the best of both worlds — the historical splendor you come to Paris for in the first place, along with the impeccable contemporary style you also come to Paris for in the first place. The designer, François Champsaur, gives the two tendencies equal weight, and the experience, underneath all the modern razzle-dazzle, is largely one that would have been familiar to the five-star guests of 1913.

In Paris, a five-star hotel entails above all a magnificent centerpiece of a restaurant, and this one doesn’t disappoint. Modernist furniture and contemporary artworks coexist with the spectacular Eiffel glass ceiling, and the bar, with its curvaceous Carrera marble countertop, is scarcely less striking. All in all it’s a fine addition to the Parisan hotel scene; not at all bad for business, certainly no slouch at pleasure, and walking distance from some of the planet’s most rarefied luxury shopping.