Le Burgundy

In 1863, Charles Baudelaire described the pleasure of being “at the centre of the world, and yet to remain hidden from the world.” He was talking about the flâneur, a person who wanders through Paris without needing to be noticed. A century and a half later, it sounds like a rather good plan for a hotel stay. Le Burgundy is on rue Duphot, a narrow street between the Madeleine and rue Saint-Honoré, with Place Vendôme and the Tuileries only minutes away. You can spend the morning among some of the busiest pavements in Paris and come back to a place that barely announces itself.

The hotel dates its beginnings to 1850, although what you see today is largely the result of its 2010 reinvention. It has just 59 rooms and suites, and an agreeable reluctance to behave like a palace. No grand staircase is required. Instead there is a light-filled atrium with a sculpture by Guy de Rougemont, colourful chairs for lingering over coffee and a small courtyard that is loveliest at lunchtime. Art gives the public rooms some personality without turning a stay into a museum visit. The welcome is discreet rather than ceremonious, which feels right for an address where the city itself is the main attraction.

Upstairs, room choice matters. The Classic Rooms start at about 24 square metres, comfortable for a short visit but hardly extravagant at these prices. Superior Rooms offer 29, while a Deluxe gives you 31 square metres and the option of twin beds. The 35-square-metre Junior Suites have a sitting area separated from the bedroom, a welcome improvement when two people want to spend more than a weekend here. Some rooms look onto rue Duphot, others into the courtyard; neither promises a Parisian postcard view. If a terrace is important, book one of the categories that actually has one rather than hoping for a balcony on arrival. Interiors are quietly plush, with marble bathrooms, warm fabrics, art and the welcome small pleasure of complimentary soft drinks.

It is also a place where returning in the middle of the day makes sense. Beneath the hotel, the Susanne Kaufmann spa has a fifteen-metre indoor pool, a whirlpool, steam room and sauna. There are treatments for two, and the fitness room is modest, so this is somewhere to recover from long walks rather than train for a marathon. The pool is open to outside visitors as well; it need not always be yours alone. Still, an hour downstairs after the shops and museums is an appealing part of the day.

Food rewards a little planning. Le Charles serves as an easy living room throughout the day, with lunch, afternoon pastries and a drink after dark. On fine days its courtyard terrace is open for lunch, under a Japanese maple. For a proper evening, Le Baudelaire is more ambitious. Chef Mylo Levin cooks seasonal French food with a lightness that suits this small dining room, and the restaurant serves dinner Tuesday to Saturday. There is little reason to leave the hotel for every meal, though it would be equally easy to do so.

There are compromises. Perfumed public spaces will not suit everyone, and the style sometimes feels cautious rather than fresh. There is no expansive garden, no magnificent lobby and none of the social theatre of a Paris palace. Rue Duphot is convenient rather than romantic, and the surrounding streets grow quieter after the shops close. Le Burgundy also charges serious money for rooms that, in the smaller categories, are simply nice rooms.

But there is pleasure in having so much Paris within walking distance without having to take the city back upstairs with you. Go out after breakfast, wander wherever you please, come home for a swim and let dinner decide the rest. Baudelaire called the observer a prince enjoying his incognito. Le Burgundy is an excellent place to practise.