A far cry from the common perception of large 4-star hotels, with their over-the-top service and luxurious, even ostentatious decor, the Villa d'Estrées is a small hotel which oozes charm, is discreet, intimate, low-key and elegant. Indeed, this is a small, down-to-earth establishment consisting of only 10 guest rooms, 5 double and 5 suites, a lobby, a large room at the entrance to the hotel, and no extravagant features such as spas, hammams or massage rooms. The quality you can expect from the Villa d'Estrées is evident in the welcome extended to the hotel's regular guests, who come here not only for its location, at the heart of historic Paris, but also for the peaceful, relaxing surroundings it offers. The hotel's showpiece has to be its lobby, notable for its Neo-Classical, Empire-inspired decor. It serves as both the reception area and a small lounge and also doubles up as the breakfast room, at the risk of unsettling certain guests, as this effectively means you end up sitting having breakfast among the comings and the goings of other guests. The owners, of course, claim this is all in the name of proximity and friendliness, and it certainly gives guests the opportunity to chat with hotel employees who will be more than happy to provide advice about where to go and what to do in the capital. As an added delight, the decor has been carefully selected, with beautiful stripy sofas surrounding low dark wood tables. A lot of the woodwork is dark and the ground is covered in old black and white floor-tiles that add a lot of class to the only communal area of the hotel.
Amy Adejokun
Section editor
