L’apartement at Château Voltaire

The Arrival

We walked into Chateau Voltaire the wrong way, or was it the right way? The hotel is a striking corner building on a side street, Rue St Roch, just off the Rue du Faubourg St Honoré and a couple of minutes walk from Place Vendôme, in the luxury heart of Paris.

The lobby at Château Voltaire

We entered via the door on the apex of the corner and found ourselves in a buzzing brasserie; it was like walking into an auberge near a country town, and we were smiled towards the interconnecting reception area by a waitress. The small lobby is very chi-chi and relaxed at the same time. Check in was quick, and we caught a glimpse of a relaxed-looking bar and lounge area across the way.

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The in-room experience

Chateau Voltaire is a boutique five star hotel, and our room, while not big, was beautifully put together. It spoke of a lot of individual thought and craft and artisanship, rather than a single, overweening interior designer.

A bedroom at Château Voltaire

The marquetry was exquisite, with solid wood furnishings and intricate carvings, hinting at the building’s history, and 20th century modern art providing a juxtaposition. The hand-made bed was huge, the coffee machine grand and complex enough for a Turin caffe and the high-ceilinged bathroom was all white-and-chocolate tiles.

La Coquille d’Or bar

The out-of-room experience

The restaurant through which we had originally entered, Brasserie Emil, is an upscale brasserie, as casual as it is fancy, with handmade tiles, beautiful wood tables, no tablecloths.

Brasserie Emil

The cuisine is also modern and fresh, rather than weighty and historic: we enjoyed a lunch of endive and olive salad, artichoke salad, and yellowtail carpaccio with ponzu. The lounge-bar is intimate and open; perfect for a quick glass of champagne pre-event.

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The Spa

Drawbacks

Château Voltaire is perhaps the perfect boutique luxury hotel. It’s not a drawback per se, but if your taste is for big, grand hotels with swanky extensive lobbies, you will prefer the bigger Parisian hotels.

Rates: From £470 per night (approx. €550/$560)

Book your stay: chateauvoltaire.com

Darius Sanai

The Park Hyatt Paris-Vendôme is located in the luxury heart of Paris

Why should I go now?

Any number of reasons: visiting Fashion Week; dropping by some dealers ahead of next month’s FIAC art fair; a series of meetings after a long, quiet summer; visiting the Franz West show at the Pompidou; or just dropping into the world’s most beautiful city now that the summer crowds of tourists have gone home and the real Parisians are back.

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September can still hold some promising weather in Paris; on a warm evening, you will crave a calm, quiet, chic courtyard in the heart of the city, and nobody does this quite as well as the Park Hyatt Paris-Vendôme. Here, sheltered from any traffic noise, we love to pick at some sashimi while sipping at a glass of chilled Puligny Montrachet from the excellent 2012 vintage.

Sens restaurant serves a seasonal menu using regional products

What’s the lowdown?

The Park Hyatt Paris-Vendôme is in the luxury heart of Paris, just off Place Vendôme, a diamond ring’s throw from the Rue St Honoré (where, among much else, you will find the global flagship and home of Hermes’ saddlery atelier and the original store of luxury leather goods super-brand Moynat); yet its interior architecture conjures up tranquillity and space. Whiz upstairs from the cleverly interconnected, classical-contemporary series of rooms on the ground floor (surrounding that courtyard) and you are in a kind of uber-townhouse, with super-chic bedrooms.

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We love it also because the Park Hyatt has a perfect blend of different types of luxury, and nobody else in Paris does it better. The courtyard has modern Parisian grandeur; the service is contemporary cool, not too formal, but also beautifully efficient; and it feels like it could be nowhere else.

La Terrasse restaurant serves cocktails and antipasti in the hotel’s courtyard

Getting horizontal

Get a room with a courtyard view; you feel like you are in a modern version of a Molière play. We loved the Asian-inspired bathroom, and the eclectic room service menu.

Flipside

The Park Hyatt is perfectly located for the Rue St Honoré and the offices and sights around the Place Vendôme, and the Louvre/Beaubourg area. But if you need to be up near LVMH HQ or around Avenue Montaigne in the 8th arrondissement, it’s a 10 minute taxi ride.

Rates: From €1,169 ( approx. $1,350/£1,050)

To book your stay visit: hyatt.com/en-US/hotel/france/park-hyatt-paris-vendome

Darius Sanai