Lonely Planet Review

Jean-Louis Costes' eponymous 82-room hotel offers a 'luxurious and immoderate home away from home' to visiting ubermensch and A-listers. Outfitted in in the signature Second Empire colours of purple and gold with a Byzantine twist, it remains a darling of the rich and famous.

The dark and quite theatrical rooms of this opulent hotel with their red velvet, Middle Eastern wardrobes are almost vampiric. A fitting description perhaps considering the hours kept by the stars that stay here. Also note the large central Italian-style courtyard replete with classical statues and a delightful restaurant. Other amenities are excellent; the basement pool, with its Art Deco-ish lounge chairs, is gorgeous, and the bar legendary. And if you actually bother to leave the hotel, it's perfectly positioned for the chicest of Paris' shopping. A couple of rooms have been adapted for wheelchair access, and there's air-conditioning throughout.