JK Place Paris

My family and I have stayed at JK Place in Capri every summer for years, and every year I count down the days until we get to go back. So knowing that a JK was going to be a mere train ride away from London was extremely exciting.  

Having said that, between a delayed opening, lockdowns, travel restrictions and Brexit, getting to Paris to stay there was not as straightforward as I’d hoped. Luckily, both stars and lateral flow tests aligned and we finally made it over to spend a few days in sunny autumnal Paris.  

JK Place Paris, like all JK hotels, maintains the perfect combination of being both impeccably chic and feeling like you’re walking into someone’s welcoming home. Everything from the art and books, to the choice of (free) bar snacks is so effortlessly tasteful and well curated.  

When we arrived at the beautifully understated building, complete with classic Parisian courtyard, we were greeted by typically friendly JK staff who were eager to show us around. Once settled into our suite (ridiculously elegant, just like everything else), we were ready to get out and enjoy the city.  

Walking aimlessly around foreign cities is one of my absolute favourite things to do, and there’s no better city to do it than Paris. The hotel is on the left bank of the Seine, right next to Musée d’Orsay and across the river from Musée de l’Orangerie and the Louvre, so should you want to take a less aimless walk, JK is right in the artistic thick of it.  

After a cliched afternoon of drinking wine, eating croque monsieurs and people-watching outside a café, we headed back to the hotel to change before going out to do it all again for dinner. When we arrived there was a cocktail party in one of the hotel bars that was densely populated with beautiful, interesting looking Parisians, which seemed fitting for such a beautiful, interesting place.  

The next morning started with a truly incredible breakfast in our room that looked so good I’m embarrassed to admit how many photos of it I took before actually eating it. Once I had indulged in being a millennial for long enough, it was time to go to Paris Photo, a photo fair that I’d been looking forward to since the last one in 2020 was cancelled.  

This year, Paris Photo was held at Grand Palais Éphémère, which is right next to the Eiffel Tower, and a short walk down the river from JK Place. In all the many, many times I've been to Paris, I’ve actually only been up close and personal to the Eiffel Tower once – the idea of swarms of  tourists (myself included) has always put me off. However, it would seem that nothing thins out a crowd like a pandemic, so I very much enjoyed the rarity of getting to visit Paris’s most famous landmark without quite so many selfie sticks.  

Between the photo fair and the aimless walking, by the time we got back to the hotel after dinner and drinks in Pigalle, it's safe to say we were exhausted. But walking into the dimly lit lobby and up the beautiful wooden staircase to bed, it really did feel like coming home. Although, sadly, at home I’m not often greeted after a night out with amazing mini desserts from Casa Tua [now Il Ristorante J.K. Place Paris] that have been left in my bedroom – something that we got very used to.

Thanks to Covid and the length of our trip, there were some things the hotel offered that we didn’t get a chance to do. Which is ok, as I have a feeling it won’t be long before I’m back to use the spa, gym and indoor pool you wouldn’t guess was hiding in the basement.  

I was never in any doubt that my long standing JK love affair would be extended to their Paris hotel too, but the reality of it was even better than I had imagined. Not just because the hotel is beautiful (which it is), and because the staff are lovely (which they are), but because in a time where travelling and being away from home can be complicated, it's so important to stay somewhere that makes you feel looked after and considered; where you feel familiar even when you haven’t been there before.

As I sat on the Eurostar going home, I genuinely felt sad to leave Paris this time. After months of lockdowns and restrictions and missing the freedom to travel with the people we love – something  we’ve all taken for granted in the past – it felt monumental to get to do it again. In the future, any time I catch myself complaining about delayed flights or long queues at passport control, I will stop and remind myself of a time when the only thing to queue for was pasta rations outside Sainsburys. The PCRs and passenger locator forms are always worth it, and Paris is always a good idea.