Paris, France

Saint James Paris

Price per night from$671.85

Price information

If you haven’t entered any dates, the rate shown is provided directly by the hotel and represents the cheapest double room (including tax) available in the next 60 days.

Prices have been converted from the hotel’s local currency (EUR618.18), via openexchangerates.org, using today’s exchange rate.

Style

High-flying romanticism

Setting

Erstwhile académie

A city-centre château, in Paris? Mais oui… Saint James Paris has always had lofty ambitions: in previous lives, it has been an intellectual boot camp for budding French boffins, and site of the first-ever hot-air balloon airfield. In the hotel's latest guise as a grandiose, cultured, country estate-style hotel, it’s still flying high. Nature reigns in this inner-city sanctuary, where Parisian art de Vivre is infused with the soul of an English country club, reconciling paradoxes with a feather-light touch. The restaurant Bellefeuille whips up flavours of bohemian fancy, from the organic gardens of Saint James, straight to your plate. For those who want old-school Gallic romance of grand staircases, neoclassic frescos, swagged velvet drapes, buttery florals, and gardens galore, Saint James will sweep you off your feet.

Smith Extra

Get this when you book through us:

A cocktail in the library bar or on the terrace in the gardens

Facilities

Photos Saint James Paris facilities

Need to know

Rooms

Fifty, including 14 Junior Suites and eight Prestige Suites.

Check–Out

Noon, but flexible, subject to availability. Earliest check-in, 3pm.

Prices

Double rooms from £581.08 (€680), including tax at 10 per cent. Please note the hotel charges an additional local city tax of €10.73 per person per night on check-out.

More details

Breakfast is usually extra (although included with some rates): €39 for Continental; €44 for the signature Saint James breakfast.

Also

This is likely to be the only time you will use a gym with chandeliers and a parquet floor.

At the hotel

Spa, gym, library, private dining rooms, gardens, and free WiFi throughout. In rooms: flatscreen TV, iPod dock, a private bar, Nespresso coffee machine, and Guerlain bath products.

Our favourite rooms

Individually designed by Laura Gonzalez, all rooms are unique, with witty details to make each memorable: geometric patterns flirt with dreamy florals, organic white plaster lampshades and art deco accents, Japanese style panoramic wallpaper, Versaille parquet flooring and velvety textures. With a medley of sundry objects, from antique books to carefully selected sculptures and paintings, each room feels like the private home of an eccentric art-lover. Our hearts lifted at the sight of room 114, a Prestige suite exuding timeless Parisian Chic, where each object tells a story; treasures culled from a lifetime of adventure. Room 101, a Junior suite with an indoor-outdoor feel, benefits from three large windows overlooking the preened-greens of the garden.

Poolside

At the spa - a 4m x 15m swimming pool with sublime views of the Paris sky.

Spa

Guerlain, decked out with Greco-Roman details, majestic stone staircases and a bas-relief by François Mascarello has a boudoir feel, incorporating elements of east and west; try an imperial relaxing massage, honey repair treatment, or Saint Jame’s signature treatment - the Dédicace Guerlain, in one of the three treatment rooms (two singles and one specifically for couples). Or, steam away any tension in the Spa’s hammam before cooling off in a Whirlpool tub.

Packing tips

Dreamy chiffon fabrics and an oversized boater for sun-kissed garden strolls.

Also

The mansion was originally built by the widow of French prime minister, Adolphe Thiers, to provide a learning centre for some of France’s most talented students.

Pet‐friendly

Dogs and cats are welcome (owners are charged €50 a night). Just let the hotel know when booking. See more pet-friendly hotels in Paris.

Children

Little Smiths are welcome, too: baby cots are free, as are extra beds for under-12s (€100 a night for over-12s); babysitting can be arranged with 24 hours’ notice (€20 an hour). On request, the hotel can arrange child-friendly tours and other activities.

Food and Drink

Photos Saint James Paris food and drink

Top Table

As close as you can get to the French windows, whatever the weather – admire the gardens.

Dress Code

Turn to the native fashion giants – they deliver the visual theatre that this hotel deserves: think Yves Saint Laurent smoking jacket, chic Chanel monochromes, inky Christian Dior silks (monocle/cigarette holder optional).

Hotel restaurant

Formerly, the restaurant was a dining room for the Thiers Foundation’s earnest students – erudite things have been said here. Expect gourmet cuisine dedicated to nature and an exclusively seasonal approach at Bellefeuille. From the organic Saint James vegetable garden to the ocean and back, starred chef Gregory Garimbay's dishes are inspired by the ephemeral, be it the sunlight of spring or the twinkling winter skies. Adjacent to the main dining room is the library, for lighter, more casual lunches that are no less delicious; book here for delicate risottos and a very tempting dessert cart…

Hotel bar

Once home to the students of Foundation Theirs, the bar is set in a grand library, where nut-brown leather books still share the space with wood-panelled walls, a winding staircase and a venerable coffered ceiling. Drop-in for a light lunch or a personalised cocktail, shaken or stirred by the master mixologists. You're in France, so the wine is – naturally – very drinkable.

Last orders

Sit down for breakfast between 7am and 10am; lunch between 12.30pm and 2pm, and dine from 7.30pm ’til 10pm.

Room service

Light snacks and mains are available in-room around the clock.

Location

Photos Saint James Paris location
Address
Saint James Paris
5 Place du Chancelier Adenauer
Paris
75116
France

This city-central hotel is on the right bank's 16th arrondissement, within easy reach of all Paris' main sights.

Planes

UK and international flights land at Paris Charles de Gaulle airport. Paris Orly has good domestic links to most of the country; both airports are a 30-minute drive away. A taxi from Charles de Gaulle international airport to the centre costs about €50; buses and trains run regularly into town at a fraction of the cost. Air France runs regular airport shuttle buses to Etoile, a 20-minute walk away.

Trains

The Gare du Nord, port of call of the Eurostar, is either a 20-minute taxi ride or a 30-minute journey on line 2 of the metro from Porte Dauphine to La Chapelle (at Gare du Nord).

Automobiles

We’d never recommend driving in Paris, but should you be so bold, the hotel has free parking, and plenty of it.

Worth getting out of bed for

If you’re here to celebrate a special occasion, book one of the ground-floor reception rooms, which seat up to 25 people, and have a private dinner party. Avenue Victor Hugo, a short walk away, is famous for its high-end boutiques. The Arc de Triomphe and the Eiffel Tower are also just a short stroll from the hotel. Visit L’Institut du Monde Arabe on Rue des Fossés Saint-Bernard in the 5ème. As well as the amazing Jean Nouvel façade and Islamic art exhibitions, it has a top-floor terrace with great views across the Seine to Notre Dame and Ile de la Cité. If you're taken with the pair of taxidermied zebra mounts above the lobby's fireplace, stop by legendary shop Deyrolle, a 20th-century centre for natural scieences turned Paris' premier taxidermy shop – amid many a fantastical mount, you may even spy a unicorn…

Local restaurants

Get to grips with succulent seafood (pick the juiciest specimens from the glittering ice-heap outside) at Le Stella (+33 (0)1 56 90 56 00) on Avenue Victor Hugo. It’s busy, bustling, and very authentic. Waiters wear black bow ties; diners range from casual to fur-wrapped. Les Tablettes de Nomicos (+33 (0)1 56 28 16 16) on Avenue Bugead is pricey (around €150 each for the tasting menu), but you’ll forgive the sting to the wallet as you linger over each inventive dish. At Le Petit Pergolese (+33 (0)1 45 00 23 66) on Rue Pergolèse, you’ll be torn between what to admire: red-leather seating, artworks from Albert Carre’s collection and meticulously elegant cuisine. L'Atelier de Joël Robuchon (+33 (0)1 42 22 56 56) at 5-7 rue de Montalembert is a must-visit for culinary connoisseurs. Skip lunch and dine on mammoth-sized steak at the colourful Le Table Lauriston (+33 (0)1 47 27 00 07) on Rue Lauriston. Alternatively, skip breakfast and conquer the set lunch menu – a steal at around €25 each.

For a madcap dining experience, head to Derrière on 69 Rue des Gravilliers. The cheeky eatery is like dining in somebody's home, even their bedroom, while you sit on their bed; we were especially charmed by the Narnia-esque secret smoking room… 

Local cafés

Café-culture hunters will want to stop for a quick crème, cognac or sole meunière at Brasserie Lipp on Boulevard Saint-Germain, the third of Saint-Germain's 'big three' cafés and a left-bank icon.

Local bars

The disco-tastic Andy Wahloo – next door to Derrière – has plenty of neon, light-up floors and a menu that is, quite literally, a book. (Good luck choosing.) We also liked the strange yet super-fun laundry-themed drinkery Lavomatic on Rue René Boulanger, where you can perch on a giant brillo-pad as you browse a cocktail list where none of the drinks are a wash-out.

Reviews

Photos Saint James Paris reviews
Alex Tieghi-Walker

Anonymous review

By Alex Tieghi-Walker , Zeitgeist capturer

‘Right, that’s it, we’re going on holiday,’ declares Mr Smith one supper. ‘I think we should go to Paris’. Red-wine mouths, cheese on the canal, cigarettes, sunglasses and steak…‘Oh definitely,’ I say mid imaginary mouthful.

Leave is taken, trains are booked; then two lunchtimes before we are set to go, Mr Smith rings and announces he has to stay home for work. Ready for our long weekend of balconies, boulevards and boulangerie, and the photobooth at the Palais de Tokyo, I ring my oldest friend and ask her if she will be my stunt Mrs Smith for the weekend. Excited, she yelps down the phone, ‘I’m going to make a mood board!’

Mrs Smith is also a practiced Parisian navigator; we step out of Porte Dauphine Métro station and she turns her nose left. ‘In the pictures there’s a garden, I can’t imagine any of the buildings here have a garden,’ I point out. But the buildings get lower, and apartment blocks segue to chic villas, and there, on a cheese-wedge-shaped block flanked by a high wall, we spy the most perfect little château: tall and elegant. ‘Like the house in Disney’s Aristocats,’ I say in an earnest tone usually adopted by people quoting Baudelaire.

Saint James Paris stands on the site of the first Montgolfier hot-air balloon launch in 1783 – the world’s first ‘airport’. Back in the early days of aviation this was the edge of the city and there was space to build steep roofs, a terrace and forecourt: it is the most unParisian building in the most French way possible. Balloon-print wallpapers and colourful curtains in the lobby reflect the building’s buoyant history.

Mrs Smith runs up the grand staircase in swift hurdles while I explore the enfilade of snug but stately public rooms. ‘We need our first glass of wine, mademoiselle,’ I say sternly as her little round face looks down from the balcony in the lobby. Facing out to the garden from the library, we forget that we are in Paris. In fact it is very hard to imagine we are anywhere but a comfortable Loire outpost.

Upstairs, our room is a riot of ruby toile wallpaper, crimson curtains, shutters and bed sheets; the bathroom had brass taps and there is even a wooden brolly waiting for us at the entrance to our boudoir, at the ready should walks threaten to be wet. We’ve never spent time in this part of Paris; it’s popular with diplomats – quiet and leafy but right near the action. The Trocadéro and Arc de Triomphe are but a 10-minute walk in either direction, and after 15 minutes on line 2 of the Métro and we are soon climbing the steep alleys of Montmartre. That brolly comes in useful; it’s probably never seen so much of the city. We try sitting in the Tuileries for a ritual beer and cigarette (recreating a lovely weekend in the final year of university when we eloped to the same spot before finals), but the Parisian monsoon puts stop to this so instead we try on hats in the arcades of Rue de Rivoli.

Getting bored undercover, we peg it over the road for the Métro and, standing in our own little puddles, people point, telling their children we must have been been swimming in the Seine. We laugh and drip and get wet again as we run up the drive to the Saint James. It’s really satisfying drying off city rain in a country house, especially when you have carpet to warm your sodden soles quite neatly.

Kneeling on the floor, blowing our trousers with the hairdryer, a gin and tonic in one hand, we smile. ‘There’s something really glamorous about this whole situation,’ I say to Mrs Smith. ‘Drinking in your hotel room. These kinds of hotels really are the preserve of couples usually aren’t they? Especially Saint James Paris: those big showers…’
‘The giant bed!’
‘That breakfast trolley and the bottle of champagne in the minibar…’
I stop and think of Mr Smith working hard back in London. ‘You’re like my mistress!’ I tell her, and we giggle over the last drops of our apéritifs.

Gliding down the stairs to supper arm-in-arm, we must look like Jack and Rose. In the formal restaurant, Flavours, she orders the langoustine starter and steak main, I opt for foie gras and lobster and any romance that might have been in another life is soon smothered with mustard and washed down with wine. The moment du jour is our almost-silent inhalation of pudding: a peach cheesecake, a perfect finale to a meal that is somehow suited to this salon in this hotel.

‘You’ve got a red-wine mouth!’ smirks Mrs Smith. ‘As Mr Smith is going to be so jealous of this weekend when he hears about it,’ she adds. As we stroll down the road that night and look back at our darling château; she squeezes my arm with as much effort as you can after a meal that indulgent. ‘I quite like having a Mrs Smith,’ I confess to her, smiling. ‘I don’t suppose your Mr Smith would mind if I borrowed you and brought you back here occasionally?’ Well, look at me with my very own mistress.

Book now

Price per night from $671.85