Paris hotels - Alastair Sawday

Talk about spoilt for choice! Cosseted or contemporary, simple or decadently baroque. Sensual, shimmering and feminine - partitions of pale organzas, crinkly taffetas, fabrics
la Marie Antoinette. The rectangle is out, undulation is in; carpet is out, parquet is in. Soft velvets in chocolate, apricot and prune, bedheads in burnished crocodile (fake). Interior patios and private terraces in old and 'new' neighbourhoods: the Marais, the Bastille, the Canal Saint Martin and all the way up to Montmartre. Bars with warm fires and deep sofas, flea market finds, a grand piano in the lobby and a Parisien beauty who sings at cocktail hour. Saunas and hammams, 18th-century staircases, Empire antiquities, home-made jams and croissants, country-house style. Where to find a private chauffeur or a bicycle rental. Can't get to the Caribbean? Come to Paris Plage 21 July - 20 August.These Special Places are just that - special, for they have been selected for their fascination and character, their top quality in their category and also for the people who run them.