Favourite Place to Stay: HOY Hotel in Pigalle
Places to bed down that won’t disappoint or break the bank
As some of you already know, I’m a bit of a hotel fiend, and have reviewed a fair share of places, including in my adopted home city of Paris. So, as everyone always asks, what are the best hotels to stay at in town? Of course, it depends on budget and personal taste, but I do have a few favourites, which I’ll be sharing here every month. The first is Hoy, short for House of Yoga, which sets the scene, but not in that let’s-all-move-to-India-and-join-an-ashram type of way… It’s a space that fits with today’s urban lifestyle, with dried flowers by artist Chiaki Kokami for sale in the lobby that flows into the reception area and then the bar and then the restaurant, a yoga studio upstairs and then rooms too…
Why I love it:
MESA. Its restaurant is easily one of the best in the city. Yes, it’s vegetarian and no, you won’t notice. You’ll be too busy working out what all the flavours are and how it is they’re taking you on a journey to the root of the Earth… I’m not even joking.
The vibe. Flowers by artists xxxx at the entrance, flowing into a blond bar reception to bar, restaurant. Wellbeing without the pretentious what’s your flow types. Upstairs yoga studio, experts you can call on to get you back in shape, from sex therapists to osteopaths. Even yoga mats and bars in the rooms.
The view… into people’s homes in the building opposite. Like watching a dolls’ house come alive.
The neighbourhood… the 9th, bars, restaurants aplenty, for all tastes, not far from Montmartre and central.