Grand Amour Hotel

When it comes to boutique hotels in Paris, there’s love, and then there’s big love. Love, in this case, is the original Hotel Amour, located in the Pigalle quarter — Grand Amour, in the 10th arrondissement, is the second incarnation. The sister hotels have almost everything in common. Both are passion projects by a creative powerhouse, graffiti artist turned nightlife entrepreneur André Saraiva, and his team of hotshot designers. Both hotels have bars and restaurants that are magnets for stylish Parisians. And neither is located in one of Paris’s more refined neighborhoods. That’s no mistake: the vibe here is edgy and seductive, not prim and proper.

Guest rooms are divided into three categories: small, medium, and large. Small really means small — this is Paris — and even the large room has steeply vaulted ceilings and a freestanding bathtub just steps from the bed. Of course, the Grand Amour is loosely based on the Japanese concept of the “love hotel,” so that was a conscious choice, not a necessity.

Unlike at the original Amour, with its erotic artwork and black-painted hallways, the Grand Amour has more of a vintage sensibility and a contemporary sense of humor. The walls are lined with fully stocked bookshelves, the walls are painted in jewel tones; there’s an old-fashioned clock radio on the bed stand, and minimalist graffiti scrawled across the shower tiles, and the occasional framed Helmut Newton photograph, to set the tone.

What’s not here is a flat-screen TV or even a telephone. The assumption, it seems, is that you came here to get away from work, to disconnect and to indulge. So take a hint. Downstairs, the happening bistro and rear courtyard garden are fabulous places to feast on a late breakfast or relax with an aperitif. The Grand Amour has a bit of buzz around it, so it’s hard to beat the people-watching opportunities. And why else are you in Paris, if not to drink wine and watch stylish French people in their natural habitat?