Hôtel Jacques de Molay, Paris

Rue des Archives, Upper Marais

The hotel is at 94 rue des Archives, at the northern end of the street where it nears rue de Bretagne and the square du Temple. The administrative quarter is Enfants-Rouges, and we file it as the Upper Marais, the district of galleries and concept stores. The nearest stations are Temple (line 3), Arts et Métiers (lines 3 and 11) and Filles du Calvaire (line 8): six, six and seven minutes on foot.

Atout France, the national classification agency, rated it three stars on 10 December 2021, for 23 rooms. It is an independent hotel.

Gym, sauna and breakfast

Facilities come first. A gym and a sauna are reserved for guests, and massages are available on request, though the hotel avoids the word spa. Rooms are air-conditioned, there is a bar, and breakfast is served under a large glass roof shaped like a pyramid. A seminar room is available, and the hotel rents electric scooters.

Limits are plainly stated. The hotel has no rooms accessible to guests with reduced mobility. Pets, parking and a terrace are not mentioned.

A few streets from the Temple

The name recalls Jacques de Molay, the last grand master of the Knights Templar, who died in Paris in March 1314. The old Temple enclosure stood a few streets away, around rue du Temple, rue de Bretagne and rue de Picardie, although the hotel does not make the link itself.

The Marché des Enfants-Rouges is about 150 metres on foot (two minutes). The Museum of Hunting and Nature is about 350 metres on foot, see our guide to the Museum of Hunting and Nature, and the Picasso Museum about 550, with its own Picasso Museum guide.

Against its neighbours

The Jacques de Molay sits among hotels of 19 to 43 rooms. La Chambre du Marais, a four-star of 19 rooms, is about 50 metres away on foot, and Hôtel du Vieux Saule, a three-star of 25 rooms, about 150. Two five-stars lie a little further: Maison Proust, 23 rooms, at 250 metres, and Experimental Marais, 43 rooms, at 250.