Fodor's Expert Review Prince de Galles

Seeking palace-hotel grandeur? Don't overlook this five-star Art Deco gem, originally built as the Paris home of Prince Edward (before Mrs. Simpson got a hold of him). Sleek and refined, the hotel's sophisticated atmosphere, fabulous Michelin-starred restaurant and glorious bar add up to a palace experience without the attitude.

YOU SHOULD KNOW Besides some seriously upscale shopping around the Champs-Élysées, this isn't the most happening neighborhood. That said, for walkers and museum lovers, there are cultural riches abound within an easy walk from the hotel.

room

Bespoke furnishings in lustrous wood and plush velvets and handsome color schemes create a refined elegance, augmented by the 40's-era artworks. The chic black-and-white fashion photos gracing the hallways recall the days when the likes of Marlene Dietrich stayed here. Consider a terrace suites with to-die-for Paris views, a fact not accentuated on the hotel website.

If you're looking on the lower end of the price scale, the little extra you'll pay for a Deluxe room is worth it for the gain in size.

bathroom

Gorgeous marble bathrooms, with brilliant mosaic motifs, have separate baths and rain showers, with all the amenities and plenty of shelf space. Don't be afraid to splash the artworks above the bath--they're waterproof.

lobby

Creamy marble and ebony unite to create one of Paris's more stylish backdrops in which to wait on a friend, lover, or no one in particular.

spa

The spa, by Paris beauty guru Olivier Lecocq, is smaller than you'd expect for a luxury hotel, but the private wellness suite is a kind of luxury in itself, equipped with its own steam room and shower.

All the spa treatments are available for in-room pampering, which eliminates the awkward ritual of traipsing around in a bathrobe.

gym

A small but chic gym has all the machines and gadgets needed to maintain your level of buffness.

dining

From the hotel's marble-clad open kitchen—a bold move for a dining room of this caliber—Michelin-starred chef Stéphanie Le Quellec creates scintillating dishes of utmost refinement—starting with a melt-in-your-mouth foie gras tart, to a delicate line-caught fish perfumed with ginger followed by a scintillating dessert—this is an experience not to miss.

If you're not a wine buff, let the sommelier have his way with you. You won't regret it!

drinking

Les Heures bar is the place to feel Parisian through and through, in an Art Deco showcase topped with a futurist mural and opulent lighting modelled after the Prince of Wales's three-plumed coat of arms. The cocktails are expertly crafted by Florian Thireau, who honed his craft at some of Paris's signature watering holes.