It’s all in the details at the Hôtel Arès Eiffel, which has just been transformed into a design hotel where – unlike many others that claim the moniker – the design shows originality and taste and is not just a sop to current trends.

The breakfast room offers a good example: the artist Catherine Fiocconi was called in to create the subtle relief of arabesques in plaster on the white walls, which are echoed in the silvery patterns on the black marble floor. The floor was the idea of owner, Enrico Casimirri (another rarity in the hotel world; the Arès is privately owned), a native of Italy, who saw this type of flooring at a furniture show. The breakfast room also boasts tables with glass-covered silvery palladium-leaf surfaces. Light is provided by Quartett’s captivating dangling crystal light fixtures on stainless-steel rods.

This thoughtful approach has also been used in decorating the guestrooms, for which there are seven color schemes, and even the walls in the staircase, for which Fiocconi has created gigantic sculpted flowers in relief, once again painted white, like the walls. The rooms and public areas are furnished by Poltrona Frau, with a number of custom-made pieces, in a pleasing mix of Baroque and contemporary styles.

All rooms have Bang&Olufsen TVs with videos and films on demand and built-in computers with Wi-Fi and wireless keyboards so guests can work from bed. There is no extra charge for these services.

The hotel is located only a short walk from the Eiffel Tower, but only the two suites on the top floor have views of it. These smallish suites have a number of amusing features, including black-leather massage lounge chairs and dressing tables, designed by Andrée Putman, with built-in receptacles for jewelry and other small items. The larger suite has another extra: a pivoting round bed with black-leather headboard.

Two contrasting lounge areas – one in white, the other in black – next to the breakfast room feature a Poltrona Frau Kennedee leather sofa, a stylish stainless-steel fireplace with an eco-friendly ethanol flame and facetted mirror lamps by FontanaArte.

A few of the building’s original decorative features have been left in place, including the wrought-iron staircase, the molding in the public spaces and the lovely flower-decorated tiles in the entryway. The bathrooms are smallish, and some have no bathtub, only a shower, but they do have Hermès products.

This kind of detail has a price, however, and the rooms, the smallest of which measure 12 square meters, go for between €240 and €450 per night.

Heidi Ellison

Hôtel Arès Eiffel: 7, rue du Général de Larminat,75015 Paris. Tel.: 01 47 34 74 04. 38 rooms, 2 suites, €240-€450.

E-mail: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Web: www.ares-paris-hotel.com

© 2008 Paris Update