Hotel d’Aubusson

From the moment you walk through the carriageway entrance of this 17th-century mansion, you have some sense of the grand Parisian lifestyle of its historic inhabitants, as evidenced by the grandiose flagstone hallway and tapestry-hung salon.

The comfortable bedrooms have high ceilings and tall windows, some with beams and embroidered fabric canopies. There’s a courtyard patio for summer aperitifs, while a real log fire burns in the massive stone fireplace in the salon in winter – and it’s situated on a lively St-Germain street, ideal for mingling with the locals.

Relax to live jazz at the weekends in the hotel’s historic bar, Café Laurent. The ambience is chilled out but chic, and with the neighbourhood’s shops and cafés on your doorstep and the Louvre Museum just across the river, it’s ideal for both old hands and first-timers.