Hotel Montalembert Is Picture Perfect and Paris Perfect

PARIS — Pick your Paris adjectives: stylish, historic, artistic, romantic, enchanting, sophisticated, magical. Each describes aspects of Paris; they all describe Hotel Montalembert in the heart of the 7th arrondissement. The Left Bank’s first five-star boutique hotel, it’s been delighting guests since 1926. In April, it delighted me.

As a fairly frequent visitor to Paris, I usually stay on a quiet little residential street in the neighboring 15th, where I love the twice-weekly outdoor market and Mes Chaussettes Rouge, a bespoke sock emporium said to furnish the pope with his red socks (we’re waiting for you, Leo!).

The area, home to well-heeled French families, is filled with children’s art schools, tech classes, English schools, and lovely toy stores. The neighborhood restaurants are peopled by the neighborhood. Elegance and French-ness abound in the 15th, and I love being there, trying to trick myself into thinking I live there and that I am, in fact, French.

But on our last visit, we moved an arrondissement over to stay at the storied boutique Hotel Montalembert, where instead of watching French parents drop their children off at preschool, we browsed fashionable shops lining the streets, rubbed shoulders with visitors from many countries, and walked to Musée d’Orsay, the Louvre, and Tuileries gardens. The Seine was our back yard.

More Grand Private Home than Regular Hotel

With just 50 guest rooms, Montalembert feels intimate. Classic French cage elevators whisk guests to the rooms, but I preferred the stairs, which felt more mansion than hotel.

The comfortable lobby furnished with unique pieces complement the Art Deco heritage, a large mirror reflecting light onto huge vases of flowers.

After meeting the couldn’t-be-more-welcoming staff in the lobby, we were shown to our suite, tastefully furnished with classic, modern furniture. Stepping inside, we were welcomed with madeleines, a jar of local honey, a bucket of champagne, and macarons laid out on the shiny table in front of the black sofa, across from two inviting upholstered armchairs. It was very easy to settle in.

The living room had light parquet floors with a colorful, geometric carpet designed by Géraldine Prieur. Black and beige draperies in a star-like pattern added their own lushness, whether open or closed. The bedroom had crisp white sheets, geometric pillows, and targeted ambient lighting. The lamps and light fixtures were special and unique, more like art pieces. The main bath (we also had a sweet powder room) had marble walls nicely contrasted by small tiles, a deep tub overlooking a balcony, a spacious shower, two stone sinks, and an array of excellent products.

One balcony overlooked a beautifully planted courtyard and another was perched above a movie set of a street with the Eiffel Tower in the distance. First thing in the morning mist and last thing at night, it was a sight to adore.

Small Scale, Elegant Dining

The hotel’s restaurant serves breakfast, lunch, and dinner. My first breakfast was a basket of pastries and a small ramekin of the silkiest, richest, most luxurious scrambled eggs — an elevated take on the ordinary.

At dinner, we were seated at a cove-like table with a black bookshelf and a flickering fireplace — it felt like a cozy little library. We ordered the Montalembert Twilight cocktail made with bourbon, cranberry juice, orange, and vanilla. I loved the description: “Inspired by the warm hues of a sunset sky, this cocktail offers a palette of sweet and bitter flavors that unfold with every sip.” Deviled eggs came topped with candied lemon and bottarga. My penne with tomatoes and grilled pine nuts was delicious, as was my husband’s sirloin steak with baby potatoes, mushrooms, and spinach shoots. An apple, pear, and blackberry crumble was a fine finale.

A Wonderful World Within a Wonderful World

While on my beloved quiet street in the 15th everything was a long walk or a metro ride away, multiple delights were right outside the door here. Flanking the hotel were L’Atelier de Joël Robuchon and a woodwind instruments repair shop. Every time we passed, a young woman was studiously holding a flute or a clarinet, assessing or repairing it. Nearby Rue de Bac and Rue Jacob are home to many charming shops selling everything from home décor to cashmere sweaters to walking canes. Historic Deyrolle is endlessly fascinating: gardening supplies downstairs; wooden drawers of bugs, butterflies, and beetles and taxidermied lemurs, lions, and bears upstairs.

Another favorite was Spiritum, a slender sanctum selling fragrances based on numerology. The proprietor asked me a few questions, then gave me samples of Mystic Warrior (I’ll take it!), the fragrance my numbers pointed toward. I bought zebra-striped shoes at Chatelles on Rue de Bac and striped linen pants at Hannoh Wessel on Rue Jacob.

I usually prefer smaller museums in Paris, but we braved the Louvre to see Louvre Couture: Art and Fashion, which explored the relationship between the two (unfortunately, not very successfully). We had tickets for noon and arrived ten minutes late, deflated to find a huge snake of a line. Only we were in luck: That was the 12:30 group, so we walked to the head of the line and inquired where to go. We were pointed to a door steps away — no wait and no problem. (Timed tickets usually have a grace period, and I will be saving this trick for my next Louvre visit.)

On our last evening, we had beef bourguignon and red wine at Les Antiquaires down the block from the hotel. It was bustling. When the same waiter who’d served us aperitifs earlier that day showed up at our table, we already felt like regulars.