Mr & Mrs Smith

What a wonderful hotel! The staff couldn't have been more friendly and helpful, and despite its size there was a real feeling of luxury. We were lucky enough to get an upgrade to a club room, which although small by normal standards, had everything you could need, with an excellent use of space. The beds were a dream, we could have slept for days, had it not been for all the wonderful sites of Paris to explore. One of the other fantastic things about this hotel, was its location. With three different Metro lines, an RER for airport, and the Eurostar within a five minute walk of the front door, you can to get anywhere in Paris so easily. The area around the hotel was packed with restaurants, which sadly for one reason or another we didn't get to sample, but I have no doubt you could find anything you want there. We have already said that now we've done the sites, next time we will go back and stay there again, just to sample the surrounding restaurants. One thing I would recommend to anyone going to Paris, is to book a night tour with Paris Authentic. A guide will drive you round Paris at night in a 2CV with a see-through roof showing all the beautiful architecture lit up in all its glory - it's the most fun I've had in the back of a car for a long time. And, worth every penny.

Hôtel des Academies is an oasis in Paris. Comfortable rooms, warm and helpful staff and a very satisfying breakfast. For dinner try restaurant Wadja across the street: an excellent set menu and some fine organic microbrews. For something more refined, try Sensing just around the corner.

At the hotel's recommendation, we ate at two brasseries within short walking distance of the hotel. Both attached to more formal, more expensive restaurants, but both were excellent. Le Bistrot du Dome is over the road from the famous Dome Restaurant and is also seafood-only, with an excellent level of service, attention and food (but don't ask for frites). The brasserie at the Closerie des Lilas was also a more affordable but no less atmospheric version of the attached restaurant. The area of the hotel seems to have restaurants that favour locals, and this adds to the Parisian experience.

Le Clos des Gourmets is definitely worth the detour, located on avenue Rapp, a stone's throw from La Tour Eiffel. It's a cozy neighbourhood bistro filled with locals, and is the best value for money in Paris with 3-course menus starting at 35E per person. We went back a second time because we enjoyed it so much. Try the veloute for an entrée, it's light and fresh and to die for. On the pricier side, Ze Kitchen Galerie is ze popular restaurant in Paris right now. Delicious French/Japanese fusion food will leave you wanting more, while making sure you are very, very full by the end. Make sure to book well in advance. Located off the Seine near Boulevard St Germain. Perfect for a late night stroll to digest all the yumminess. Le Comptoir du Relais is a true Parisian experience, located near the Theatre Odeon. You have to line up to eat, maybe along with a few celebs because they don't take bookings. The trick is to wear flat shoes and to get a couple of glasses of wine at L'avant Comptoir next door. They are happy for you to bring them outside and sip them while waiting in line. The food will be worth the wait. We felt like we were in a Woody Allen movie, and had a ball. As for the hotel, it is divine. The rooms are on the small side, so make sure not to bring an entire collection of Louis Vuitton luggage. Make sure to open your French windows nice and wide, and take in the sights and sounds of Paris.

The hotel is wonderfully situated, easy walking distance to most of the historic sites of Paris. Amazing touches in the hotel, innovative design and great art throughout. A gorgeous boutique hotel right in the beating heart of this glorious city. Highly recommended.

Rose pistachio and passion-fruit macaroons with bubbly greet you upon arrival at this discrete but lovely hotel, with easy access to the Metro, the 91 bus to either Gare de Lyon or Montparnasse, and a choice of restaurants. The reception was unfailingly helpful. Breakfast can be sent up to your room at no extra charge. On the same street as the hotel, the restaurant Wadja has French cooking at a reasonable price, so long as you can read the handwriting on the chalk menu. If you are alone you are made to feel welcome at Wadja, a must for the solo traveller.

I just returned from a weekend in Paris with my mum. On Saturday night, we had dinner at Georges on top of the Pompidou. If the views of Paris weren't enough, the waitresses are all supermodel lookalikes with handbags slung over their shoulders and towering high heels. The food is divine and sitting outside on the terrace on a perfect evening made the whole experience magical. You do pay for the view, the food and the waitresses but it is well worth the trip.

Au Bougnat bistrot is just a few steps from Notre Dame, but provides food and service that is a world away from the usual tourist fare. Definitely worth a (very short) detour. But mind your head.

On the corners of Rue Vavin and Rue Notre Dame des Champs, just behind the hotel, there's a pavement cafe opposite a patisserie/boulangerie. Great for people watching over breakfast as you get to watch uberchic Paris mamans dropping their children at school via three cigarettes and an espresso (and that's just the eight-year-old's consumption). Come lunchtime the patisserie fills up with teenagers buying lunch but it's well worth fighting your way through for excellent tartes flambees and chocolate regligueses (kind of stacked profiteroles) which you can eat in the quiet English Garden area of the Jardin du Luxembourg a couple of minutes walk away.

If you're assailed by guilt after leaving the children at home, Rue Vavin is also home to lots of very Parisian kids' clothes shops - who wouldn't want a tailored Chanel-style jacket for a toddler for 70 euros, after all?

Definitely try a performance at the Garnier Opera House. I went to Onegin, the John Cranko ballet, but it is also worth going to see the ladies in jewels parade around the wonderful foyer, and then sit in your box for a performance. It is quite stunning inside and not at all difficult to go to a performance, even though the locked gates at the front are a bit daunting.

The trick is to get there 90 minutes before a performance. From Hôtel des Academies et des Arts, go to the Notre-Dame des-Champs Metro, change at Madeleine and then go one stop to the Opera on line 8. Then go to the corner of Rue Scribe and Rue Auber for the ticket office. You then need to wait in line and about half-an-hour beforehand they sell day tickets. Also you can look on their website for advance sales.

A wonderful evening, and a bit like Versailles inside!

Try: The Le Bar a Huitres (Oyster Bar) just a few steps from the hotel, on the corner of Boulevard Raspail and Boulevard Montparnasse, for a great value seafood brunch without an English voice in earshot. Watch locals eat from huge platters, piled high with ice, lemon and crustacean bits and pieces.

Also worth a look-in is Restaurant Chartier (nearest Metro: Grands Boulevards) for dinner under €20. It’s a cavernous, but tightly-packed former soup kitchen, which now provides an extremely enjoyable – and slightly madcap – evening full of deliberately rude waiters and old-fashioned French charm. Arrive early to avoid the 20-minute queue for a table, and take care when ordering from the menu (il est tout en français!) as the steak tartare – served here as a raw hamburger topped with an uncooked egg – is cleverly disguised.

Just opposite the hotel there is a small bistro called Wadja (+33 1 46 33 02 02) which was a fantastic place for a low-key meal on arrival – very traditional set menu, impeccably cooked;  very traditional smart, efficient, unsmiling Parisian service, lovely mid-20th century wooden pannelling and tiled floor, murmur of civilised conversation from obviously loyal clientele. And not at all expensive. La Coupole is also a hop, skip and jump away and even if you don't eat there it is worth going for a pre-dinner drink to gawp at the decor. Very friendly bar staff.