Rates: from €280 to €1,000
Added extras: brunch and cultural events
Services: restaurant, spa, bar, breakfast and fitness room
‘Bel Ami’ is taken from a novel by Maupassant which follows the rise of a seducer drunk on power and wealth. ‘Bel Ami’ means ‘good friend’ and was the nickname given to this character by the women in the book. The story has been adapted for the screen in around fifteen films and now a hotel has adopted the name. Hotel Bel Ami is suitably located in Saint-Germain-des-Prés, Paris’ renowned literary quarter, in a former printing house which first published the novel.
Throughout the hotel are constant reminders of the building’s past: from industrial-style objects to books which resided in the numerous libraries of the hotel. However, the Bel Ami is a forward-thinking place for all types of events; meetings, exhibitions and cultural events. The rooms, at once original and unique, are also dynamic made up of tailor-made furniture in a contemporary/pop style with acid colours that are mostly found in the brunch room.
The Bel Ami’s organic brunch menu, concocted by the chef Christophe Hay, is renowned in the capital. It is impossible to resist and includes both French and global influences. While some will enjoy the large choice of fruit juices, the more daring can muck in and make their very own DIY fruit juice from the wide selection of fresh fruit on offer. For dessert, there is fondant, cheesecake, cannelés and other sweets. Maupassant once said: “of all the passions, the only one that seems respectable to me is the passion for food”. The Bel Ami hotel and Maupassant are, in many respects, on the same wavelength.