Louvre Hotels

The Louvre in Paris has a reputation as one of the finest museums in the world. Home to the legendary Mona Lisa by Leonardo da Vinci and latterly uplifted to the front with a pyramid, it is a jewel in the Paris crown that is also decorated with the nearby Place Vendome, the Opera Garnier and the Jardin des Tuileries. Anyone staying in this area, more officially categorised as the 1st arrondissement, will feel themselves at the heart of Paris and comfortably placed to explore the best that the City of Lights has to offer.

The Place Vendome is situated down from the Louvre along the Rue Saint-Honore. The square immediately reminds us of Trafalgar Square as its centre contains a monumental column, this time supporting a statue of Nelson's great rival, Napoleon I. Yet the Place Vendome, dating from the late 17th century, predates its London sister square and was the work of Jules Hardouin-Mansart, who also built the Palace of Versailles which came to replace the Louvre as the royal residence during the reign of Louis XIV. Thus on the corner of the Place Vendome, we have the Hotel Mansart. Built in 1900, this 57 bedroom three-star hotel combines modern amenities with echoes of Mansart's era in its bright wallpapers, gold panelling, glittering chandeliers and large French doors and windows. If you can't afford to stay in the Ritz, in the Place Vendome itself, then the Hotel Mansart could be the place to experience the same old world charm and central location in Paris.

If Louis XIV furnishings are not your style, then fast forward to the 18th century and stay at the Hotel des Tuileries. Celebrating the nearby gardens in its name, this hotel is housed in a building that was owned by the lady in waiting of Marie Antoinette and that presents a classical facade to the visitor. A three-star hotel, the 26 rooms are decorated with portraits that evoke the era of aristocratic supremacy before the French Revolution. The former private mansion now serves visitors to Paris in a style that would have been fitting for a royal courtier in days now past.

The rich seam of history to be mined in the Louvre area of Paris stretches to the 19th century. Walking along the Rue Marivaux, we discover a plaque to the Spanish artist Goya who in 1824 lived in the building that bears the plaque. This building is now the Hotel Favart, another three-star hotel with easy access to the centre of Paris. After Paris, Goya capped his connection with France by moving to Bordeaux where he died in 1828 aged 82. Visitors to Paris tread in his footsteps by staying at the Hotel Favart and are within easy rich of the Louvre museum, where half a dozen of his paintings are now hanging.