The best charming hotels in Paris

1. Hôtel Parc Saint Séverin | A hushed ambience

The Latin Quarter pulsates with bars and restaurants, Boul'Mich and the banks of the Seine. Yet it's in the calm of a tiny pedestrian street that the charming Hôtel Parc Saint-Séverin in Paris is hidden, where, in the Middle Ages, parchment merchants were to be found! It's also where a certain Diderot lived in the 18th century. Behind a 1930s facade, the 27 rooms - from 16 to 33^m2 - are a cozy cocoon of classic elegance: antique furniture, a harmonious color palette, delicate wallpaper and paintings with an old-fashioned charm create a cosy, discreet atmosphere.

We fall under the spell of this room with terrace: 40^m2 for a panoramic view while enjoying a coffee. The pleasantly sober bathrooms feature welcome products by Codage. Above all, you'll be amazed at how quiet it is, ensuring a peaceful night's sleep. A breakfast room gets the day off to a good start, with a generous buffet featuring quality organic produce. And, in the absence of a restaurant - it has to be said that the surrounding area is full of possibilities - the 4-star hotel has teamed up with the bistro next door to offer room service for a few specialties or recipes from Michelin-starred chefs, slipped into jars.

Hôtel Parc Saint-Séverin
27 rooms, from €250 per night
22 Rue de la Parcheminerie, 75005 Paris

2. Le Narcisse Blanc | Between gentleness and discretion

The Invalides and the Alexandre III Bridge are just a stone's throw from this charming Paris hotel, tucked away in a quiet street. Decorators Thibaut Fron and Thierry Martin were given carte blanche to design the story of this pretty little Narcisse. Narcisse? That's Cléo de Mérode, artist and muse of Toulouse-Lautrec and Nadar. Marble and stone for elegance in the lobby, parquet flooring, shades of peach, pink and grey under the glass roof of the Cléo restaurant, as if to counterbalance the lively cuisine of chef Bruno Aubin, or enjoy a delicious tea time in complete tranquillity after a day's sightseeing. The same softness envelops the 37 rooms of Le Narcisse Blanc in a soothing sobriety: a monochrome of beiges, whites, browns with golden accents, Art Deco details and chiselled mouldings.

Here a terrace overlooks the capital, there a fireplace. There's even a little Parisian spa, signed Clarins for a melodious Art Deco basement: a swimming pool with counter-current, a jacuzzi and sauna, a treatment room and a fitness area: it's all there. For a nightcap, settle in at Leopold's, a reference to the Belgian king who is said to have fallen for the ravishing charms of the beautiful dancer.

Le Narcisse Blanc
67 keys from €497 per night
5 rue Louis Codet, 75007 Paris

3. Hôtel Mansart | Charming hotel like a private museum

The Hôtel Mansart is a jewel on the corner of Place Vendôme. Erected in the 18th century by John Law from plans by Jules-Hardouin Mansart, Louis XIV's architect, this charming Paris hotel was home to, among others, Alexandre-Gabriel Lemonnier, jeweler to the Crown, who chased the crown of Empress Eugénie. Legend has it that, during the Commune, he hid jewels behind the interior shutters of today's suites!

Converted into a hotel at the end of the 19th century, this 4-star establishment is happy to recount its past, which is deeply rooted in both its common areas and its 57 rooms. Antique furniture with a beautiful patina, moldings running along the walls, a delicately veined marble fireplace, the play of light from stained glass windows, wallpapers signed by prestigious publishers such as De Gournay, and draperies by Pierre Frey: everything contributes to this feeling of discreet refinement. Discovering the collection of over a hundred original paintings and sculptures that adorn this house makes you a particularly privileged guest, an almost exclusive visitor to this private museum. Here and there, as a reminder of the present, a design note slips in mischievously, such as this sculpture by Georges Jeanclos, created especially for the hotel. It's no surprise to find that service is as discreet as it is courteous - the hallmark of Esprit de France establishments. Take the time to savor the tasty buffet breakfast. And it's all the more regrettable that there's no restaurant here: the place lends itself to fine dining. Like these room-service jars, prepared by Michelin-starred chefs.

Hôtel Mansart
57 keys from €204
5 rue des Capucines, 75001 Paris

4. Hôtel Dame des Arts | The breath of elegance

Interior designer Raphaël Navot is responsible for this plush but not snobbish renovation in the heart of the Latin Quarter. Built in 1959, the building originally housed a drama school. But nothing in front of the heavy, opaque entrance door reveals the Nouvelle Vague universe from which it draws its inspiration. Playing with curves and straight lines, gloss and matt, the designer has opted for noble and atypical materials: burnt wood, fluted glass, or this flamed granite from Zimbabwe.

We follow this discreet perfume of atmosphere, a specific creation by Arthur Dupuy, admiring a photo or painting in passing. The Paris boutique hotel boasts a superb collection of over 500 works of art scattered throughout the hotel. We join one of the 109 rooms. Small as some of them are - 12 to 15^m2 for the most humble, up to 32^m2 for the most generous - they all harmonize around a refined design, in autumnal tones of beige, brown and cream, awakened by a coppery or metallic sheen, supported by the fluted oak walls, soothed by the charred wood floor. In the bathrooms, luxury is called Diptyque, for welcoming products that are resolutely Rive Gauche.

You wouldn't expect the restaurant's cuisine to be Mexican! But cheekily revisited by chef Othoniel Alvarez Castañeda, who twists it with French and Japanese flavors. We wouldn't call it a spa, this little wellness area hidden away on the first floor, but it does offer a treatment room, a sauna and this superb fitness room with its ceiling like a wooden wave watching over the luxurious Nohrd brand equipment. In winter, why not crawl into bed to watch one of the films chosen by the hotel each evening at 9pm and 11pm. And on sunny days, you can take in the 360-degree panorama of the capital from the rooftop bar on the  9th floor. With a well-chosen playlist, a glass of champagne and the Eiffel Tower in your sights, the evening can begin.

Hôtel Dame des Arts
109 keys, from €369
4 rue Danton, 75006 Paris

5. Maison Proust | Look no further for extravagance

It took the genial talent of Jacques Garcia to restore the Belle Époque splendor desired by the owners of the Maisons Particulières collection to this former private mansion in the heart of the Marais district. It took three years of painstaking work and research to give this 5-star hotel the sumptuousness and spirit of the salons that Marcel Proust loved. Already, the first floor unfurls its magnificence, the fruit of the work of the great names of craftsmen associated with the project: Lelièvre and Edmond Petit fabrics meet the bronzes of Remy Garnier, combine with Cordoba leather from Fey, and the columns of the French sculptor that adorn the entrance.

We leaf through one of the 19th-century books in the library's rotunda, inspired by the Opéra Garnier's Rotonde du Soleil. And we admire a copy of Du côté de chez Swann autographed by the writer. A game of chess? It's in the Jardin d'hiver, under the ceiling's gold-woven velum, that we settle down. At the bar, tassel chandeliers are reflected in Venetian mirrors; in front of the opulent fireplace, you order a signature cocktail. The name? Madeleine, which may become yours. Each of the 23 keys pays homage to a personality who influenced the writer or one of his friends: Édouard Manet and the Countess Potocka, Robert de Montesquiou and Émile Zola, Sarah Bernhardt and Baudelaire... Each room features unique fabrics and a period painting by Boldini, Alfred Stevens or Léon Bonnat in keeping with the personality who lends it its name. Cordovan leather, made-to-measure furniture - including bedside lamps designed by Garcia, illustrated with phrases from A la Recherche du temps perdu - antique pieces and gilded trimmings. The extravagance extends to the sumptuous spa: zelliges and tadelakt, wood and marble echo the decor of Marcel Proust's aunt Léonie's home, magnifying the pool, hammam and three cabins with treatments by the luxurious American brand La Mer. Marcel Proust would certainly have loved this charming Paris hotel.

Maison Proust
23 keys, from €1.675
26 rue de Picardie, 75003 Paris