This stately Parisian chateau-turned-hotel is located in Paris’s chicest arrondissement, the 16th. Set in a quiet neighborhood in a gated courtyard, it almost feels as if you’re more in the country than in the city.
Despite the glamorous French exterior, the interior resembles more of a British club, which can be startling when you enter. Saint James Paris was a private club (and still is) before it opened as a hotel, and to us still feels like a place you don’t quite belong—even as a hotel guest.
The hotel was recently renovated and has received a lot of press lately centered around the design, which is not to our taste. If you’re a lover of bright colors, patterns, wallpaper, and upholstery, it could be appealing to you. Each hotel room has a headboard of various IKSEL wallpapers. Our room had the White Blossom motif.
High points of the hotel are the stunning Library Bar, which fully embraces the British club vibe, but in a way that made sense to us, as well as the gorgeous pool and Guerlain spa. They also recently received a Michelin star for their restaurant Bellefeuille, which looked to us like a light, airy space for ladies who lunch. In hindsight, this makes sense as outside guests are only allowed into this very pretty space for dinner. If you dine there, you might encounter their beloved house cat Pilou wandering the stairs.
There is no other hotel in Paris like this, so we’d recommend it to potential guests who will appreciate the design and concept.
Note: Saint James Paris provided support for the reporting of this story.