We were recently invited to the grand opening of the voco Paris Porte de Clichy, the newest opening from the IHG group’s small chain of boutique hotels. This area of Paris was actually new to us — Clichy is immediately outside the périphérique on the northwest side of the city, and the Porte de Clichy is the entrance to Paris proper.
We found the decor to be upscale and an interesting blend of design elements inspired by Paris’ famous Belle Epoque architecture and eclectic accents from around the world. The lobby is warm and inviting, and the rooms chic and modern, with useful features like built-in reading lights, USB-C chargers next to the bed, and in certain rooms, pull out sofa beds. This proved especially nice in our case as we were traveling with family and needed to accommodate three adults. If you’ve ever tried to book a room in Paris for three adults, you know how hard this can be.
The hotel’s new restaurant, Romcoco offers casual cuisine in a lively bar setting with live music on certain nights. The bar is focused on rum and with the global headquarters of L’Oreal across the street, seems to have become a chic spot for meetups outside the office.
Here are three reasons we think this chic outpost is worth considering on your next Paris trip.
First, the location. While the hotel is technically located outside the city limits (by about 50 meters), the Porte de Clichy metro stop is a less than 5 minute walk from the front door of the hotel and (assuming this is what you want), you can be at the tourist epicenter of the city in 25 minutes door-to-door. The fast, modern, and clean 14 line will deliver you to the steps of the Palais Garnier faster than any Uber or taxi could ever dream of – unless maybe at midnight on a Sunday.
Second, accessibility. If you are traveling with children or adults with any mobility concerns, conventional wisdom is that the metro is not for you. However, since the Porte de Clichy stop is built around the ultra-modern Tribunal de Paris, there are elevators that will deliver you from the street to the subway platform, and it is possible with some research and experience to identify the more easily navigable destination stops to start your day from once you’re in the city center. It is also an unfortunate fact that many of the elements that make historic hotels in the center so charming also make them completely inaccessible for your loved ones who want to experience the City of Lights but can’t deal with tight spiral staircases or rooms that don’t have space to open your suitcase.
Third, price-to-quality ratio. While we love the flagship five-star properties of Paris as much as anyone, as European residents, these are not realistic accommodations for most people and even for travelers who can afford them, you might rather have budget left over for nice restaurants, shopping, and experiences. While we were guests of the property, we felt the nightly rates were extremely reasonable for a new, clean, modern hotel with air conditioning, friendly service, and an extensive breakfast spread.
We really enjoyed our experience at this new property and the opportunity to get to know areas of Paris we had not explored before. After traffic dies down in the evening it’s just a 10-15 minute Uber ride to a charming restaurant in Montmartre. Subscribe to get access to our Paris Black Book for all of our recommendations on where to go!
Note: voco Paris Porte de Clichy provided support for the reporting of this story.