(c) Hotel Caron de Beaumarchais
There are endless accommodation options in Paris - so many that it's hard to know where to start when looking for a hotel. Here, The Good Hotel Guide selects their top five from their collection of hotels in Paris: all are independently owned, offer great value for money and offer an authentic sense of the city, both past and present.
1. Grand Hotel Malher
(c) Grand Hotel Malher
Family run for three generations, the Grand Hotel Malher offers modern and bright rooms, a lobby lounge with floor-to-ceiling windows, and a breakfast room in a cellar dating from the 17th century. The location in the trendy Marais district is fantastic, and the staff couldn't be more welcoming.
2. Hotel de Varenne
(c) Hotel de Varenne
Set in a grand 19th century building, Hotel de Varenne offers elegant rooms in Louis XVI and Empire style; most look out onto the charming courtyard garden. Breakfast is served in the wood-panelled dining room or in the garden in fine weather. The Musée Rodin is only three minutes' walk away; the Jardin des Tuileries just 15 minutes away.
3. Hotel Chopin
(c) Hotel Chopin
The modest Hotel Chopin offers charm and historic significance (it's a listed historic monument) at a reasonable rate. It stands at the end of a glass-roofed 19th-century arcade with shops, near the junction of boulevards Haussmann, Montmartre and des Italiens, and has been open for business every day since 1846. The rooms are small but quiet; the best are those on upper floors with views of the rooftops of Paris.
4. Hotel de la Bretonnerie
(c) Hotel de la Bretonnerie
Set in a 17th-century former townhouse on a side street in the Marais, the rooms at Hotel de la Bretonnerie offer an equal mix of history and romance: although on the small side (typical for Paris), they all retain period features, such as exposed wooden beams, fabric wallcoverings and/or four-poster beds. Breakfast can be served in the room or in the vaulted dining room. The Notre-Dame Cathedral is only a 15-minute walk away.
5. Hotel Caron de Beaumarchais
(c) Hotel Caron de Beaumarchais
Named after the 18th century playwright who lived close by, Hotel Caron de Beaumarchais in the Marais has elegant rooms furnished with antiques and chandeliers; attic rooms have private balconies with rooftop views. The lobby has tapestries, old opera programmes, an Erard piano (1792) and an antique card table with hand-made cards, and there's a charming breakfast rooms with exposed stone walls.