Hotel Pont Royal
Paris
from Travel Intelligence

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Address:	7 rue de Montalembert, 75007 Paris, France
Telephone:	+33 (0) 1 42 84 70 00
Fax:	+33 (0) 1 42 84 71 00
Cost:	from 370 euros
Rooms:	75
Rating:	4 star

The Hotel Writes

"Between the river Seine and the boulevard Saint Germain, in the midst of the Faubourg, Arts and Letters thrive in the Hotel Pont Royal and its garden.In the heart of the capital, this very special 'garden' is two steps away from the Musée d'orsay, a bridge from the Louvre a stromm from Montparnasse and the Opéra. In this literary hotel's prestigious neighborhood, you find the antique dealers of the Rue des Saints-Pères, the 'cafés bohême' on Place Saint Germain des Prés and the Luxembourg gardens which are but a few of discoveries in store for you."

Review

Jamie Dunford Wood:

Smallish hotel in the heart of the Left Bank of 75 rooms, relaunched in 2000 after 8 years of renovation. The hotel and ground floor bar have plenty of literary tradition, having been the watering place for writers and artists earlier in the 20thC - a fact made much of by the black and white photographic portraits in the circular hall. There is no sign of them now however, and with the renovation there seems little chance that they will return. However, that does not matter, for the hotel has successfully fossilized its history to create a comfortable, friendly and atmospheric hotel in a great location. The open visitors book on the desk contains hundreds of glowing testimonials, the staff are unfailingly friendly, and English and French newspapers scattered about the place attest to a generosity of spirit missing from so many European hotels.

The renovation scheme is of the uniform interior design school, but done in a sufficiently original manner, avoiding over-statement, that makes it work. You need to like dark and sumptuous colours, for there is plenty of mauve, mulberry and dark wood here, or 'earth, coral and plum' as it is described in the brochure. Furnishings are modern, with the odd bit of ironmongery. You half expect scented candles, but there was no evidence of these when we visited. Bring your own.

The standard rooms are small, while for views you need to rise above the 2nd floor. Of particular interest are the original oils which hang above the beds - each a different view of Paris, of the kind you can sometimes unearth on the streets of Montmartre. On the surreal side, their colours match the richness of the rooms, and they are a brave attempt to give each room individual character. Whether you like them or not, they succeed.

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