Hôtel Providence Paris

Hôtel Providence stands on the semi-pedestrian rue René Boulanger at the foot of the Porte Saint-Martin, in the tenth arrondissement, where the grands boulevards meet the streets that lead to the Haut-Marais and the Canal Saint-Martin. The building dates from 1854 and spent part of its life as a brothel; in 2015 Pierre Moussié, Élodie Moussié and Sophie Richard reopened it as an eighteen room hotel. The architect Philippe Medioni led the restoration, while Élodie Moussié and Sophie Richard designed the interiors themselves: House of Hackney wallpapers and velvets, portraits from the flea market, brass, marble and a fireplace in the bar.

Every room has a custom-made cocktail bar with an ice maker, a copper shaker and an illustrated bartending guide. The rooms run from the Mini to the suite in the attic, which looks across the zinc roofs to Sacré-Cœur, and some Classic and Superior rooms have balconies over the Théâtre de la Renaissance. Downstairs the restaurant cooks over a wood fire from breakfast until late evening, the bar stays open until one in the morning, and the piano bar and the 75 square metre garden terrace carry the house through summer and winter.

The hotel holds the Green Key label for sustainable tourism and does without a car park or a gym, which suits a house of this size; public car parks are close by. Strasbourg Saint-Denis and République are both a few minutes on foot, and the Haut-Marais, rue Montorgueil and the canal are within walking distance.