Hôtel Emile, Paris

At the exit of Saint-Paul station

Hôtel Emile occupies no. 2 rue Malher, where the steps of Saint-Paul station come up: line 1 is a minute from the lobby. Atout France, the national agency that classifies hotels, gave it two stars on 3 May 2024, for 29 rooms.

The house presents itself as a trendy design boutique hotel, in its own words.

Rooms in black and white

The rooms follow a graphic black-and-white scheme, and their bathrooms open directly onto the bedroom. Every room is air-conditioned and sleeps one or two; there are no triples or family rooms. The Top Floor room and the Suite are among those with a balcony, facing the church of Saint-Paul-Saint-Louis or the rooftops.

Breakfast is continental and is the only meal. Pets are not admitted, and the hotel says its spaces are not adapted for wheelchairs. Drivers are pointed to the Indigo car park at Pont-Marie.

Around rue Malher

Rue des Rosiers, the old Jewish quarter known as the Pletzl, is four minutes away; L’As du Fallafel there is kosher and closes for the Sabbath, and on Sundays the street turns pedestrian and fills up. The Bibliothèque historique de la Ville de Paris, in the late 16th-century hôtel de Lamoignon, is three minutes away, the Musée Carnavalet four, and the place des Vosges five — our place des Vosges guide gives the square’s opening hours. The Mémorial de la Shoah, free to individual visitors and closed on Saturdays, is six minutes away.

Pratic Hôtel, one minute away, is the other two-star of the area, and the one of the two that lists family rooms. On the same street, the three-star Grand Hôtel Malher (28 rooms) is also a minute away, as is Le Temple de Jeanne, a three-star of 17 rooms on rue Saint-Antoine.