Hôtel Paradis

The way things have been going lately in the Parisian boutique-hotel scene, one might expect that a place called Hôtel Paradis would be literally built out of a fluffy cloud, staffed by actual cherubs and angels with harps and trumpets and the whole heavenly hullaballoo. Fortunately they’ve taken their brief a bit less literally than all that. In today’s Paris a smart, stylish, decently placed and humanely priced hotel is, in itself, a paradise of a certain kind — and Hôtel Paradis is all of those things.

What’s special about Paradis, from a design perspective at least, is that it achieves a high level of visual interest without tipping over into either clichéd gestures or aggressive bombast. (You’d be surprised.) Here the atmosphere feels novel but not alienating, and often that’s quite enough. Add a staff that’s eager to please — there’s nothing jaded about Paradis — and you’ve got a winning recipe.

It’s in the up-and-coming 10th, which is central enough, and by no means disadvantaged, although it’s not exactly the typical tourist haunt — you’re somewhat to the north and east on the map of our hotels in Paris. The 10th is, however, where both the Gare du Nord and Gare de l’Est are located, making it an extremely convenient option for traveling by train, and you’re close to the busy Place de la République as well.