Saint James Paris
Style High-flying flamboyance
Setting Erstwhile airfield
Saint James Paris has always had lofty ambitions: in previous lives it has been an intellectual boot-camp for budding French boffins, and site of the first ever hot-air balloon airfield. In its latest guise as colourful, cultured, country estate-style hotel, it’s still flying high.
Need to know
- Rooms 48, including 20 Junior Suites, 11 Suites and two Pavilions.
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Rates
Double rooms from $509.56 (€397), excluding tax at 7 per cent. Please note the hotel charges an additional local city tax of €1.50 per person per night on check-out.
The price shown represents the lowest nightly rate for a double room available at this hotel over the next 21 days. Any price conversions from the hotel's local currency (€397) have been conducted using today's exchange rates from xe.com.
- More details Breakfast is extra: €28 for Continental; €35 for the buffet.
- Facilities Spa, gym, library, private dining rooms, gardens, and free WiFi throughout. In rooms: flatscreen TV, iPod dock and Lanvin bath products.
- Poolside No pool, but the spa has two steam rooms.
- Check-out 12 noon, but flexible, subject to availability. Earliest check-in, 2pm.
- Children Little Smiths are welcome, too: baby cots are free, as are extra beds for under-12s; babysitting can be arranged with 24 hours’ notice (€20 an hour).
- Also Dogs are welcome (owners are charged €30). Smokers can light up in certain rooms. The mansion was originally built by the widow of French prime minister, Adolphe Thiers, to provide a learning centre for some of France’s most talented students.
Food and drink at Saint James Paris
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Hotel restaurant
Formerly, the restaurant was a dining room for the Thiers Foundation’s earnest students – erudite things have been said here. The feel is far from serious though, thanks to the flamboyant cosiness: leopard-print carpet, red-velvet chairs and banquettes, boxy glass vases stuffed with fresh flowers, and some important-looking types painted in oils and hanging from the walls. Expect gourmet French classics, cooked and served with panache.
- Dress code Turn to the native fashion giants – they deliver the visual theatre that this hotel deserves: think Yves Saint Laurent smoking jacket, chic Chanel monochromes, inky Christian Dior silks (monocle/cigarette holder optional).
- Top table As close as you can get to the French windows, whatever the weather – admire the gardens.
- Last orders Sit down for breakfast between 7am and 10am; lunch between 12.30pm and 2pm, and dine from 7.30pm ’til 10pm.
- Room service Light snacks and mains are available in-room around the clock.
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Hotel bar
The bar is set in the library, which has 12,000 books. Walls are wood-panelled, chairs and books are encased in nut-brown leather, and there’s a spiral staircase to access the tomes. Lest this sounds earnest, look to the leopard-print carpet and baby grand piano. Sip a classic cocktail, or ask the barman for one of his secret signature muddles.
Saint James Paris 43 Avenue Bugeaud, 75116 Paris
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Smith extra at Saint James Paris
A cocktail in the library bar or on the terrace in the gardens
Current offers at Saint James Paris
In the know
Our favourite rooms
Our hearts lifted at the sight of room 204, a junior suite on the first floor. This two-level suite overlooks the grand entrance and the grounds, and has plenty of witty details, including a trompe l'oeil 'parquet' carpet and ‘library’, and a tweed armchair with elbow patches on its armrests. The bedroom feels more classically French, with its grey-and-white patterned wallpaper, although the bright red bedspread keeps things zingy. Room 303 is a calm white space with low pendant lights and a bed topped with an ornate white-and-cream bedspread.
Packing tips
Flying goggles and headscarf – should the hot-air balloons in the grounds decide to head skywards, you’ve come prepared. Alternatively: leopard-print scarves or stilettos and sexy smalls for your grand boudoir – it’d be a shame to let Bambi Sloane’s come-hither decor go to waste.
Also
French beauty brand Gemology (www.gemology.fr) chose the hotel as the site of its first spa. There are two Moroccan-influenced treatment and steam rooms, and products feature ingredients derived from precious stones. This is likely to be the only time you will use a gym with chandeliers and a parquet floor.
