Le Pavillon des Lettres

"Occupying a powerful little corner of Paris (near the French Ministry of the Interior and the Élysées Palace), this 26-room sister hotel to the delightful Pavillon de la Reine conjures a chic take on la vie bohème. In this version, though, Rodolfo and Mimì are coughing into Hermès scarves, since the rue du Faubourg St-Honoré beckons too. Rooms, named after famous writers, are more cozy than grand, but they come with a lot of style. Individual color schemes were conceived by interior designer Didier Benderli: pigeon-gray walls, say, with thick chocolate-brown carpeting and deep-purple velvet settees and side chairs. The fluffy beds have glove leather–covered headboards, as well as great reading lamps. An iPad waits in every room, and junior suites upgrade standard baths or showers to whirlpool baths and rain showers. The hotel has neither a restaurant nor a bar nor a gym, but it hits a bull’s-eye for its well-defined demographic—the worldly and the well-heeled."