Playing on Paris’ reputation as one of the most romantic cities on earth, the Amour seduces guests with a love-themed décor and sophisticated bohemian spirit. This iconic address was one of the first boutique addresses in Paris a decade ago and boy, does it still make heads turn.
- Nicola Williams, Destination expert
On a side road off shopping street rue des Marytrs in South Pigalle. To blend in with the Parisian bobos (bourgeois bohemians) who have made the once-shady neighbourhood so fashionable, ask the taxi driver for SoPi. The delightful Musée de la Vie Romantique, a townhouse (beautiful tea garden) where Romantics Georges Sand and Frédéric Chopin hobnobbed at literary salons, is footsteps away.
Hilltop Montmartre, with its white domed basilica, is two stops north along line 12 from St-Georges metro station – or walk.
Style & character
Amour (love) is the grand passion here and there is no escaping it — romancing couples only please! The spirited trio behind the daring themed hotel is graffiti artist-stroke-nightclub baron André Saraiva, hotelier Thierry Costes and restaurateur Emmanuelle Delavenne, whose combined talents contribute to a boutique hotel that is playful, quirky, highly individual and just a little bit risqué. You’ve been warned.
Service & facilities
Understated in that very casual-chic way that Paris does so well. Staff might come across as a tad arrogant on first appearance but keep your cool and they’ll soon become your friends. Services and facilities are limited: Hôtel Amour is more like rooms above a restaurant really; there are no phones in the rooms meaning no room service or direct call to reception should there be a problem.
The compensation: Amour’s beautiful glass-topped courtyard garden space, made for lounging on sultry summer nights.
- Room service
Black corridors lead to 24 retro-styled rooms, each individually arranged with vintage furnishings picked up in flea markets, mildly erotic art works — photography in the main — and a nicely curated choice of reading matter (love-related art and design titles such as Parisian Brothels: Immoral 1930s Architecture, although predominantly in French).
Some rooms are saucier than others, although none are likely to overly offend – express any specific dislikes or desires when booking. Rooms don’t have a television, but then who on earth would want to watch television in a hotel made for love?
Food & drink
Fantastic. The hotel ‘reception’ is tucked discreetly in one corner of the fashionable, ground-floor bistro – a local lifestyle hub and buzzing drinking and dining spot from 8am to 11.30pm daily.
Breakfast is a continental affair, while brasserie-type lunch dishes like roast chicken, beef tartare and macaroni gratin with truffles kick in from noon. Amour’s American weekend brunches for €21 (£16) draw a crowd (no reservations so arrive bang on noon to snag a table), as does its gorgeous courtyard.
Value for money
Double rooms from €170 (£132). Breakfast excluded - priced at €12 (£10). Free Wi-Fi.
Access for guests with disabilities?