Ecole Centrale Hôtel

Hôtel de l’Ecole Centrale
3 Rue Bailly, 3rd
Tel +33(0)1 48 04 77 76
Fax +33(0)1 42 71 23 50
M° Arts-et-Metiers

http://www.hotelecolecentrale.fr

You can tell by the attention to detail in the decor that a woman runs this adorable hotel on the northern edge of the Marais district. It's  lively and colorful hotel with enthusiastic, professional staff and creative little extras throughout that make it feel more like a three-star hotel than a budget splurge. You enter into an Italian Palazzo décor, where the reception is a jungle of potted palms, posh wicker furnishings with fat cushions, marble tiled floors, crystal chandeliers, and wrought iron touches throughout. A mezzanine balcony houses a bright breakfast lounge with cheerful yellow walls and skylights. The stairs leading to the guestrooms continue the colorful theme with scenes of ancient ruins.

Guestrooms have a fresh Mediterranean style of pale wooden furnishings, plush carpeting, and walls brightened with blue, yellow or terra-cotta color washes. Lower floors have higher ceilings supported by old-fashioned wooden beams.  For those traveling with lots of luggage, the spacious junior suite on the sixth floor has a Jacuzzi bathtub, slanted ceilings and skylights (but you’ll have to take the stairs from the fifth floor to get there). The location is on a tiny L-shaped street off of a major intersection, so it's quiet but central and easy to find. You'll have to walk about a block to get out of the wholesale district and into the more lively Marais shopping and sightseeing areas. 

22 rooms, A/C, free WiFi. Pets are accepted. Laptops or DVD players are available on request. Doubles from €130. 

I originally reviewed this hotel for the good folks at Eurocheapo.com.