"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.
Durant
& Cheryl Imboden's 
