Maison Delano Paris

Rococo Bones, and a Court That Was Never Built Over

Rue d'Anjou runs north from the Madeleine through the part of the eighth arrondissement that was laid out for private houses rather than for shops. Number four is one of them, an hôtel particulier whose owner brought in the architect Pierre Contant d'Ivry to rebuild it, and which has carried Rococo detail, scrolling plaster and trompe-l'oeil ever since. The plan is the classic one: a central block, two wings, and a courtyard held between them. Most Paris houses of this type lost that court to a later building. This one did not, and a modern hotel now runs its restaurant in it.

Why It Works

The courtyard is the reason we kept it. Paris is a hard city to stay in with an animal, not because hotels refuse but because the geometry is against you: no garden, and a lift and a lobby between the room and the pavement. Here the building opens into its own protected square of outside, which changes the shape of every day. The second reason is the rooms, where the original fireplaces, mouldings and painted ceilings were kept rather than stripped, so the house still reads as a house. The third is service designed for people who do not want to go out: massages in the room, styling on request, a concierge who arranges rather than suggests.

Why This Location

This is the quiet quarter of a loud arrondissement. The Madeleine is at the end of the street, with its food halls and the flower market; the Faubourg Saint-Honoré and the Élysée are a few minutes west; the Tuileries and the Seine are a walk south through place de la Concorde. For a dog it is a rare combination in central Paris: wide pavements, a courtyard at home, and the Tuileries and the Champs-Élysées gardens close enough to reach on foot before the traffic wakes up. The trade is that this is an office and embassy district, so the street itself is quiet in the evening.

Fast Facts

• Price: Luxury

• Vibe: eighteenth-century house, low light, understated

• Rooms: fifty-six rooms and suites, deluxe and prestige categories, with signature suites keeping their marble fireplaces and painted ceilings

• Best For: couples, travellers with a dog who want a central address, stays built around one good dinner

• Our Favorite Thing About the Hotel: the original courtyard, kept open and used as the restaurant floor rather than filled in

• Dining: restaurant in the courtyard, French and Mediterranean in register, and a cocktail bar that draws Parisians as well as guests

• Amenities: in-room massage, hair styling on request, concierge, paid parking nearby, step-free access, animals accepted for a fee

• Attractions: the Madeleine at the end of the street, Faubourg Saint-Honoré, place de la Concorde and the Tuileries, boulevard Haussmann

Rooms Under Painted Ceilings

The rooms run from deluxe through prestige to the signature suites, and the further up the scale you go the more of the original house you get: marble fireplaces, deep mouldings, ceilings that were painted rather than plastered flat. The decoration underneath is restrained, dark and modern, so the eighteenth century does the talking. Rooms are accessible to guests with reduced mobility, which is worth knowing in a building of this age. If you are travelling with an animal, ask for the lowest floor available, for the obvious reason.

The Courtyard Table, and the Bar

The restaurant sits in the court itself, which in Paris is unusual, and it works in the French and Mediterranean register rather than the palace one. The bar has a life of its own and fills with people who are not staying, which is a good sign in a hotel of this class: it means the ground floor belongs to the city rather than to the guests. Breakfast can be taken in the room, which is often the practical answer when there is a dog upstairs.

What to Know Before You Book

Animals are welcome but charged, so confirm the fee and the room type when you book rather than at the desk. Parking is paid and off site, and walking or the métro at Madeleine is quicker anyway. The house is small for its category, so the suites go early. And ask the concierge about the courtyard before you arrive: whether it is open depends on the season, and it is the reason to be here.