Hotel Madeleine de Senlis

The place

On a quiet cobbled street in the 5th arrondissement, Hotel Madeleine de Senlis feels like a 19th-century Parisian salon that never closed. Behind the ivory facade, 30 intimate rooms — antique furnishings, exposed wooden beams, old portrait paintings, patterned curtains, Fragonard bath products by the tub.

The surprise is the pool: cave-like, carved in stone, inspired by the Roman baths. Elsewhere, a library lounge and a plant-lined courtyard, made for long, unhurried afternoons. There is no restaurant, no bar. Just a continental breakfast each morning, in the dining room or brought to your door — or an express version when mornings run short.