Paris, France

Hôtel Walla​​ce

Price per night from$112.86

Price information

If you haven’t entered any dates, the rate shown is provided directly by the hotel and represents the cheapest double room (including tax) available in the next 60 days.

Prices have been converted from the hotel’s local currency (EUR104.32), via openexchangerates.org, using today’s exchange rate.

Style

Parisian paisan

Setting

The undiscovered Quinzième

Zhuzhing up the sleepy 15th arrondissement, Hôtel Walla​​ce – part of Orso Hotels – has a transportive effect, taking guests back in time to the Italian Riviera of the Seventies. And, how have boutique hoteliers Orso (proud parents of the Pigalle’s beloved Hôtel Rochechouart) achieved this? Design studio Hauvette & Madani have used lacquered wood and fringed lampshades, sculptural furnishings, large-font terrazzo tiling (a nod to Gio Ponti) and plenty of bronze to furnish retro rooms. There’s gusto and glamour in the – already locally loved – cocktail bar, and sun-kissed living on the third-floor roof terrace, where there’s a Nordic bath and summertime bar. The fantasy might carry you away, but with the Eiffel Tower in view, Paris will beckon you seductively back.

Smith Extra

Get this when you book through us:

A free cocktail each at the bar

Facilities

Photos Hôtel Walla​​ce facilities

Need to know

Rooms

45, including one penthouse suite.

Check–Out

12 noon, but flexible, subject to availability; however, this can only be guaranteed by paying for an extra night. Earliest check-in, 3pm.

Prices

Double rooms from £98.33 (€115), including tax at 10 per cent. Please note the hotel charges an additional local city tax of €8.13 per person per night on check-in.

More details

Rates don’t include the sizeable breakfast spread (€16 a guest), with meats, cheeses, fruit, boulangerie treats and Alpine jams, farm yoghurts and homemade granola served on the patio or in a glass-roofed breakfast room.

Also

Two rooms on the ground floor are suitable for guests with mobility issues.

At the hotel

Leafy roof terrace with a hot tub, lounge, gym, charged laundry service, free WiFi. In rooms: Flatscreen TV with Chromecast; minibar; courtesy tray with a Nespresso coffee machine, Lomi coffee and Kodama teas; free WiFi and bottled water; and custom Colomba bath products. Some rooms have bathrobes and slippers too, and the Junior Suite Eiffel Tower View has a large furnished terrace.

Our favourite rooms

Say bonjour to the ‘iron lady’ from the penthouse (AKA, the Junior Suite Eiffel Tower View). A decorous coffret of a pied-à-terre, which takes over the whole fifth floor, with a leafy private terrace (plus the chance to spy on the roof terrace’s goings-on) and Hauvette & Madani’s tasteful retro styling within. Families should note that the interconnected Family Room is connected by a corridor but doesn’t have a living space, so it’s best if you’re only planning to sleep there.

Spa

The hotel may be Italian and French in style, but things get Scandinavian on the roof where there’s a traditional alfresco hot tub kept at a toasty 38 degrees, from which you can see the top floor of the Eiffel Tower (and Gustave Eiffel’s restored office if you have binoculars). And, there’s a fitness room too, with a rowing machine, elliptical cross trainer, treadmill, weights and more, plus picture windows overlooking the foliage on the patio.

Packing tips

Lean into the Italian Riviera look with headscarfs and huge sunglasses, full-skirted sundresses and light tailoring.

Also

The Colomba bath products are custom made by owners Anouk et Louis Solanet, using a nostalgic fragrance of fig and fennel inspired by Louis’ Corsican roots.

Pet‐friendly

Four-legged friends are very welcome and can stay free in all rooms. They’ll get a cushioned bed and bowl too. See more pet-friendly hotels in Paris.

Children

There’s one Family Room (two interconnecting rooms) on four of the floors and the hotel has a selection of colouring books, games, dress-up costumes and storybooks.

Sustainability efforts

For a city-centre hotel, Wallace’s staff have made strides in Earth-saving measures. They’ve abandoned plastics and single-use toiletries, use energy-saving devices in rooms, source ingredients as locally as possible and are huge advocates for the area’s boulangeries, patisseries and delicatessens.

Food and Drink

Photos Hôtel Walla​​ce food and drink

Top Table

Take it to la terrasse.

Dress Code

Discreetly charming bourgeoisie.

Hotel restaurant

There’s no restaurant at the hotel, but Wallace’s team have made lots of epicurean friends while getting set up; and they’ve joined forces with elite gastro group Fulgurances to tip the bar snacks scale. There’s a cicchetti feel to nibbling here (indeed, the hotel offers an aperitivo from 6pm), so gorge away on Sicilian olives, a whole mozzarella Nordic-bathing in buffalo milk, pistachio-studded mortadella (all from local deli Parma Mia); artichoke salad, crispy-topped focaccia and vegetarian lasagna (from trattoria ​​Fratelli Castellano); or brioches, babkas and bagels from traiteur Adar.

Hotel bar

That distant French roar you hear is the residents of the 15th arrondissement loudly cheering, for an effortlessly chic bar has been delivered to them. Slotted into an internal courtyard with a glass roof, the 360 bar counter is a mish-mash of marbles, with upside-down wicker parasol lightshades dangling above and lacquered wood tables around. The locals have already cottoned on to its coolness, so you can do some authentic mingling with a glass of Italian wine in hand or one of the weekly changing cocktails. But, any setting would find it hard to compete with one where the Eiffel Tower is just nonchalantly chilling in the background; the roof terrace is really rather special when the bar opens up there through spring and summer, so you’ll want to let afternoons run long there with a few vins, or sneak a peek at the weekly-changing cocktail choice. Here are the signature hits: cucumber mezcal with basil syrup, lemon and St Germain liqueur; and Jasmine with gin, jasmine liqueur, honey cordial, verjus and chardonnay.

Last orders

Make merry in the bar Tuesdays to Saturdays from 3pm to 11.30pm.

Room service

Breakfast in bed and an array of snacks can be delivered to your door from 7am to 11.30pm.

Location

Photos Hôtel Walla​​ce location
Address
Hôtel Walla​​ce
89 Rue Fondary
Paris
75015
France

Hôtel Wallace is on the Rue Fondary, a quiet street in the sometimes overlooked but not without its charms 15th arrondissement. It’s ideally positioned for Eiffel Tower views and is just a 20-minute stroll from the iconic landmark.

Planes

Orly Airport is the closest, a 30-minute drive away; it’s well-connected, with direct routes from the Americas, Africa, Middle East and all over Europe. Charles de Gaulle is an hour’s drive away, but flights arrive here from all over the world. The hotel can help to arrange transfers in a sedan or minivan.

Trains

Montparnasse is the closest overground station to the hotel, a 15-minute drive away, and is well-connected with other cities across France. For Eurostar arrivees, the Gare du Nord is a 40-minute drive away. The closest Metro station is Avenue Émile Zola, just down the road from the hotel or Cambronne for line 6, which rides all the way to Charles de Gaulle.

Automobiles

In Paris, flâneur-y will get you everywhere, and strolling the boulevards is a far more pleasant experience than driving and trying to park in Paris. Plus, you won’t have to brave the dreaded Périphérique. If you do drive in, there’s no parking onsite, but the hotel’s a 10-minute walk from Saemes Parking Mairie du 15ème, which charges €38 a day. And, if you’re using your own vehicle, you’ll need to register for a Crit'Air sticker. To reach the hotel, take the ​​Porte de Versailles exit from the Périphérique, go along the Rue Vaugirard, turn left onto Rue Pasteur, Boulevard Garibaldi and Rue Frémicourt before turning left onto Rue Fondary.

Worth getting out of bed for

Spend a good chunk of time schwitzing, soaking and sunbathing on the hotel’s roof deck – a rare treat in the city. And, get to know the locals with cocktail mixers and mingled yoga sessions. It has to be said, the 15th arrondissement has a reputation as the black sheep of Parisian neighbourhoods. And, yes, it doesn’t have the postcard-making landmarks – indeed, the controversial tallest building in Paris, Tour Montparnasse rises gloomily above it (residents begrudge its existence) – and parts of it are less picturesque. But, it’s wonderfully authentic and feels like somewhere Parisians actually live, and so has fewer tourists; it’s gaining a reputation as a gastro hub (unsurprisingly, as its home to the Cordon Bleu Institute); and from here the Eiffel Tower is central to the viewline. And, there’s a lot going on, too. It’s cultural clout is evidenced by the likes of the Parc des Expositions, a sprawling event space (so big it has its own Metro stop) where shows and expos are held, or the Musée Bourdelle where sculptor Antoine Bourdelle lived and worked alongside famous friends such as Chagall, who’d paint in the garden. The Maison de la Culture du Japon spans a rich cultural scope of cinema, theatre, art, photography, craft and cookery, and holds tea ceremonies in its rooftop pavilion. And, Galerie Esther Woerdehoff might show scintillating modern-art shows, but during World War II it served as a hideout for members of the Resistance. And, you may pick up some culinary whizzkiddery on a tour of the Cordon Bleu Institute. The 15th also has green pockets for idling away in. The Île aux Cygnes, an artificial rectangular isle in the Seine, has running and biking routes, a climbing wall and a secret replica of the Statue of Liberty, a quarter of the size of New York’s. On the site of the old car-manufacturing plant, the Parc André Citroën has fountains to play in; lushly planted greenhouses; a kids’ area with toboggans, ping-pong tables and pitches for ball games; and a tethered hot-air balloon in which you can hover 150 metres up for spectacular city views. And, Parc Georges Brassens ideally combines a vintage book market and a secret vineyard (although the Clos des Morillons’ wine is only available at a yearly auction, we’re afraid). Next door, the vast Puces de Vanves flea market unearths both trash and treasure, but the fun is digging through them. A slightly more comprehensive shopping experience can be had at the Beaugrenelle centre, or along Rue de Commerce. And, yes, the Tour Montparnasse is more ‘I don’t know what they were thinking’ than ‘je ne sais quoi’, but the view is really something from the rooftop viewing deck, which becomes an ice-skating rink in winter. And, the glittering golden dome and Napoleonic mausoleum of Les Invalides, and needs-no-introduction Eiffel Tower are just a 20-minute walk away, so you may as well.

Local restaurants

When you’re close to the gold standard Cordon Bleu Institute, you know the chefs cooking up a storm here will be the (ahem) toque of the town. Take Jérôme Bonnet, who has regressed to his South of France upbringing to recall dishes for Le Radis Beurre’s ardently gallic menu. Aside from its namesake snack, you can try buttery medleys of foraged fungi, the signature pan-fried pig's trotters with duck-foie-gras vinaigrette, and choux stuffed with praline cream and blackcurrants. From Sunday to Wednesday a three-course meal is only €38. ​​Poetically named Neige d'été (Summer Snow) is equally lyrical in its Japanese culinary creations, crafted by chef ​​Hideki Nishi. There are only tasting menus, largely focused on fish, but you’re in excellent hands, that make the likes of matured amberjack, dekopon orange and wasabi in a burrata sauce; scallops with kumquat; or abalone with shitake, red shiso and samphire in a langoustine consommé. And Abstinence firmly has tongue in cheek, with a menu embracing the decadent (hotdogs with Cantal cheese and apple ketchup, caviar-topped devilled eggs and soy-caramel ​​kouign-amanns) and the drunken.

 

Local cafés

Low-key surf-themed O Coffee, with chipboard walls and mix-match graphic tiling, keeps the local hipsters happy. The ‘joe’ is on point, but you’ll want to pair it with something sweet – a pistachio brest maybe? Or a vegan meringue with mint-strawberry sorbet and lime? Or perhaps an oversized madeleine or profiterole? Choices, choices…

Local bars

Wallace’s bar may well be the saviour of a somewhat sparse bar scene in the 15th. However, Rhinocéros Bar has live music, a heated terrace, happy hour and 2am kick-out time – all fine ingredients for a decent night. And then there’s La Cave de L'Os à Moelle (181 Rue de Lourmel), which has small-batch wines and – to keep things on an even keel – delightfully cheap classic French plates to pick at. You can also pick up a picnic here.

Reviews

Photos Hôtel Walla​​ce reviews

Anonymous review

Every hotel featured is visited personally by members of our team, given the Smith seal of approval, and then anonymously reviewed. As soon as our reviewers have returned from this Euro-smash boutique stay on Paris’ lower Left Bank that skips back to the Seventies Italian Riviera (albeit just south of the Eiffel Tower) and unpacked their retro hot-tubbing wear and some of the Orso hotel group’s custom Colomba bath products, a full account of their Eiffel-gazing break will be with you. In the meantime, to whet your wanderlust, here's a quick peek inside Hôtel Walla??ce in the 15th arrondissement…

Sometimes you have to step back to see the bigger picture – Paris’ 15th arrondissement may be a little further from the action, in a residential neighbourhood a little bit away from the Left Bank, but here you’re in the sweet spot for a new perspective on the Eiffel Tower. And, perhaps the sweetest spot is on the third floor of boutique newcomer Hôtel Wallace, where those with a sixth sense for next big neighbourhoods flock for café au laits, chilled wines and weekly changing signature cocktails on a leafy roof terrace, from which la Tour insouciantly loiters in the background. This is the new – and very chic indeed – outfit from the seasoned Orso hotel group, still riding the high from their success with the beloved Pigalle hideout and pandemic baby Hôtel Rochechouart (a fellow Mr & Mrs Smith-ster). The latter was an elegant love letter to art deco, and Wallace is also tangled in time, evoking the coastal glamour of the Italian Riviera circa the Seventies. Innovative design team Hauvette & Madani have taken this brief and frolicked along with it, outfitting rooms like opulent train carriages, with lacquered-wood headboards, fringed lampshades, cane furnishings and stripy curtains; and continuing the whimsy throughout, with upside-down wicker parasols hovering over the convivial odds-and-ends marble bar (sure to become a popular night-starting spot), zoomed-in-terrazzo floor tiles and sculptural furnishings. While clever plays on light, plants galore and a rooftop hot tub add a touch of Ligurian allure. All shot through with the sunny warmth of Orso’s renowned service. The Eiffel Tower might be in the picture, but it’s Wallace’s scene you’ll want to be a part of.

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Price per night from $112.86