This small, early 19th-century hotel, built in 1816, was revived by designer Jacques Garcia in 2000 when it underwent a complete makeover. The original elaborate decor and the intimate atmosphere were kept and L'Hotel became a boutique gem in the middle of St. Germain des Près, near Ecole des Beaux Arts. Illustrious guests include French actress and singer Mistinguett, Oscar Wilde who died in one of the rooms and Jorge Luis Borges. Oscar Wilde's handwritten letters from the time he stayed at the hotel are displayed on the walls of the lobby.

The 20 rooms and suites are revolving aroung an exquisite atrium which rises up through the six floors of the hotel and a small, velvet-draped elevator can be used to get to the rooms. Each one of the 20 rooms has a unique theme and character, reflecting a famous guest's personality or a certain historic period or architectural style. You don't need to leave the room to travel to Africa, Russia, Japan, Italy or England. Just enter St Petersburg suite and you're in a setting you'd read about in a Tolstoy novel, in the Léopard room you rest on leopard-print fabrics, in the Pagode Japan is present and the Barroco features an Italian Baroque style.

The Oscar Wilde suite, where the writer spent his last days, is a Victorian recreation of his dining room in London and features framed letters which the hotel staff sent trying to convince him to pay the money he owed the hotel. The Mistinguett room features Art Deco furniture and memorabilia, the Cardinal suite is a purple draped apartment with a lovely terrace overlooking the roofs of St. Germain-des-Prés and Loti is a magnificent Arabian nights setting. Rooms start at 280 euros and a continental breakfast is available for 22 euros. Needless to say these imagination stirring rooms are endowed with all the modern amenities.

L'Hotel has another surprise in stock in the cellar where a replica of a Turkish bath and a small pool sit under the stone vault. For lunch or dinner head to the Le Bélier restaurant and for an Oscar Wilde cocktail go to the piano bar.

13 rue des Beaux-Arts
Metro: St-Germain-des-Prés
Tel: 01-44-41-99-00
Fax: 01-43-25-64-81
Email: reservation@l-hotel.com
http://www.l-hotel.com