The whole thing felt like my own private Parisian garret, with every nook and cranny carefully appointed. Downstairs, the inviting bar and lobby area was divided up with rattan screens, and the seating areas filled with bobbin tables and chairs whose lengthy tassels ticked the floor. Always, someone was standing sentinel at the bar, ready to serve a cafe au lait or an aperitif. There is a small spa with two treatment rooms as well as a gym in the basement, and if that’s the way you choose to spend your time in Paris, then so be it. This is a small, cozy hotel with a lot of style. —Chloe Schama, senior editor
Amenities: Restaurant and bar, spa, room service, 24-hour front desk
Address: 19 Rue Vernet, 75008 Paris
Around the corner from the Chateau des Fleurs, nestled between the Champs Elysées and Rue Friedland, the sister (brother?) establishment, Hotel Norman, exudes a slightly more masculine energy. “I like this place,” my husband said, unprompted, when we moved there after a brief stay at Fleur. Here the palate is more “modern captain’s quarters,” with the burled-wood paneled walls, milk-chocolate-colored leather sofas, mid-century modern furnishings, and geometric patterned wall art. The hotel, in fact, is named after the famous graphic designer, Norman Ives, with variations on his patterns playing out on textiles and carpets positioned throughout the hotel. The curved balcony over our room overlooked a building with “Chambre de Commerce et Industry,” etched on the side—a fitting view given the muscular feel of the place, though there was what looked like a large and healthy potted olive tree sitting on the deck. The place is not without its soothing organic elements: Atop the long marble bar on the ground floor stood several glass canisters filled with dried orange slices and rings of pineapple and what looked like saffron-colored candy floss, ready to be dispatched into various libations. An Asian influence permeates the culinary offerings at Norman as well as Chateau des Fleur. The Hotel Norman’s restaurant, Thio, is under the auspices of beloved Vietnamese-Parisian chef, Apiradee Thirakomen Thiou, whose creativity has apparently charmed Parisians for decades. —C.S.
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