We were rather cheeky about the Hôtel Bellechasse in our review of design hotels in Paris. But we take it back, as if you're looking for a special hotel on a buzzing street, seconds from the Orsay Museum, a pop across the river to the Louvre, and only a short, nice walk along the Seine to the Eiffel Tower, this is the place you'll find love.

The Bellechasse is a Christian Lacroix baby, a thing which you see immediately on entering the small foyer - unmistakeable bold, bizarre mixtures of colours (including a yellow ceiling) and deep, plush fabrics. The staff are super-helpful, if rather brusque in a very French way.

]]> femmefatale 2008-05-08T09:00:01-05:00 http://www.hotelchatter.com/story/2008/4/29/103236/358

Tight jeans and large sunglasses are what you mostly see entering and exiting The Hotel du Petit Moulin, a 17-room creation from fashion designer Christian Lacroix on Trendy Street, aka rue Poitou, in the middle of Edgy Area, aka the Right Bank's Marais area.

The translation - small windmill - is misleading, because it's actually housed right inside an old boulangerie, or bakery. They've kept the colourful old boulangerie sign outside, which can be confusing if you're not paying attention.

Thankfully, there's no confusing the place for a boulangerie inside - instead of bread it smells strongly of a heady perfume, Chanel no 5 perhaps. Something expensive, anyway.
]]> femmefatale 2008-04-30T13:30:01-05:00 Search HotelChatter string http://www.hotelchatter.com/search/