La Comtesse

The Eiffel Tower is one of the most photographed and visited monuments in the world, a fixture on the skyline of any Parisian fantasy. If it’s visible from your hotel room, you can’t help but feel like you’ve made it. So it stands to reason that at Hotel La Comtesse, the guest rooms aren’t organized according to “water view” or “courtyard view,” but “Eiffel Tower side view” and “Eiffel Tower front view.”

And if what you want is to sit on a tiny balcony, sipping Chenin blanc while gazing out at a postcard-like view of an iconic symbol of France, Hotel La Comtesse has got you covered. These rooms and suites aren’t huge: this is the Left Bank, after all, the beating heart of the seventh arrondissement. But they have everything you need, with elegant but understated décor, flat-screen TVs, free wi-fi, and, of course, picture windows or private balconies facing the Eiffel Tower. The look mixes the romance of 18th-century literary salons with a crisp, modern aesthetic. Downstairs, striking public spaces feature the historic buiding’s original moulding, but painted blood-red, floor-to-ceiling bookshelves stocked with art and design books, a ceiling fresco offset by rich blacks, metallic hues, and dramatic lighting.

There’s a small fitness center and hammam onsite, and a fashionable continental breakfast with exquisite petit fours and expertly prepared café crème. But that’s all — no Michelin-starred restaurants or rooftop cocktail bars here, just timeless style, an enviable address, and, of course, the views. Go ahead, try every setting on your camera at sunset, get the perfect picture, then repeat at sunrise. No judgment here: touristy or not, it’s part of the reason you came to Paris.