Hotel Sezz

Rooms

"First and foremost comes function, then the room is dressed to please the eye, finally it is lit to bring out its beauty." Designer Christophe Pillet's philosophy is sound, and his style comes in impeccably measured doses: not too much to drown the senses, not too little to starve the heart.

Standard doubles are a fraction smaller than you’d want them to be, though some compensate with French windows and tiny balconies giving views of the Seine (go for these). There are charcoal grey blankets, sofas built into alcoves, double-glazed windows. A (big) step up are the junior suites: the very lap of luxury, with swivelling plasma screen TVs and spot-lit artwork on the walls. Big shag-pile rugs in lobster red or electric lime add colour to black wooden floors. The junior suites have orange leather tub chairs, the suites come with red leather Murano sofas. Two suites have partial views of the Eiffel Tower; they are expensive but highly indulgent (these are the rooms with the double baths).

Bathrooms are a highlight in a hotel full of highlights: polished stone walls, double sinks in groovy plastic, taps that emerge seamlessly from mirrored walls, cymbal-sized shower heads in the ceiling for your own personal monsoon. Waffled bathrobes hang in the cupboards, big white towels and slippers, too. Some bathrooms hide behind smoky mirrored walls, others are more conventionally placed behind doors. They impel frequent washing; this a hotel in which it is impossible to stay dirty for long.