Paris

From the editors of Condé Nast Traveler:

Chef Jean-François Piège (who ran the two-Michelin-star Les Ambassadeurs) and hotelier-restaurateur Thierry Costes have created a charming and exceptionally comfortable 15-room hotel upstairs from the two excellent restaurants they run on the rue St-Dominique (one of the more charming streets on the Left Bank). Among designer India Mahdavi's witty tongue-in-cheek references to small, traditional Paris hotels: In the stairwells are potted plants on lace doilies—only instead of the rickety bamboo stands of yore, this greenery sits atop sleek turned-wood tables. In place of alarming floral-print wallpaper, rooms are done in William Morris meets op art geometric prints that recall sixties Miami Beach. Thick wall-to-wall carpeting, beds with crisp linen sheets, and flocked patterned damask curtains give these cozy cribs a lot of style. Spacious bathrooms come with square sinks on counters (that extend into the bedroom to become a desk) and a heated towel rack. Well-equipped rooms include an iPad, an Illy espresso maker, and a minibar with complimentary soft drinks. The staff are eager to please and there's a hearty room-service menu, but with two terrific restaurants on the premises, it's more fun to go to the see-and-be-seen brasserie or Piège's intimate haute-cuisine table on the first floor.—2011 Hot List

Which room to book: No. 16, on the top floor, is especially quiet, pretty, and private.

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