This is probably my favourite hotel out of any I have ever stayed in. I cannot wait to return. The staff are the best I have encountered in a hotel and the rooms are stunning. I stayed here when my Dad treated us to a family break last summer. He paid around £350 for 4 nights bed and breakfast for 4 adults. It is a 3 star hotel, but I can honestly say I have stayed in 5* hotel wth far inferior service. It has about 25 rooms (spead over - I think - 4 floors), each unique, wonderfully maintained and beautifully decorated.

There is a breakfast room (with a small outside eating area for the warmer months) on the ground floor. Although we visited the hotel in July, and the breakfast room is quite small, it was never crowded when we were there. Breakfast is continental and fairly simple, but all the food is extremely fresh and the serving staff are lovely. There is the usual spread of breads, cheeses, fruit, cereals, eggs, juices and hot drinks.

The immediate area is mainly residential although there are plenty of general stores, (rather posh) restaurants, cafes and bars within a 5 minute walk. There is a general store selling drinks, snacks, cigarettes etc nextdoor to the hotel and it is run by an extremely friendly Tunisian man who taught us new French phrases every time we went in! The apartments in the area are absolutely fantastic. The apartment building opposite the hotel is incredible and I must admit I enjoyed peering across the street into the homes of the sort of people who keep enormous, ornate antique harps in their sitting rooms!

The hotel staff speak impeccable English but really appreciate it if you learn some basic French phrases (just greetings, basic conversation etc). I got by pretty well on my GCSE level French and those who serve you in restaurants, cafes, shops etc really are appreciative. I noticed in many touristy cafes that the staff would talk to you in rapid French at first, even knowing that you are English. If you reply in French, no matter how basic, they are happy to then chat in fluent English to you. I got the impression that some were fed up of foreign tourists who make no effort to learn even basic French so if you show you're not entirely clueless, they will love you for it. We were in one cafe at a table next to an extended family of British tourists who were complaining loudly about the food, prices and Paris generally. Their waiter spoke only French to them and they got more and more annoyed that he couldn't understand them so resorted to pointing at things on the menu and holding up fingers to signify the quantity of each item they wanted. He then came over to our table and after we had a short conversation conducted in french with him, he switched to fluent English, much to our amusement and the irritation of those next to us!

I also recommend a visit to the Tour Montparnasse, the tallest building in France. The views from the terrace on the 59th floor are out of this world. You can stand there for hours picking out famous landmarks on the distance and you can take some incredible photographs. The information centre is fascinating, particularly the historic photographs of Paris.