Best Family Friendly Hotels in Ile de France

If you saw the final episodes of HBO’s Sex and the City TV series, you’ll recognise Hôtel Plaza Athénée as the splendid establishment in which Carrie Bradshaw stayed. The character was wowed by the view from her suite balcony, and you will be too as it’s opposite the capital’s most iconic emblem. The front elevation features wrought-iron balconies planted with colourful flowers and is found on Avenue Montaigne, close to designer boutiques. After a spot of nearby shopping, you can unwind in the hotel’s Dior spa and dine in its Michelin-starred restaurant.

Sitting in the centre of old historical Paris, on the Rue du Faubourg Saint-Honoré, The Bristol was the first hotel to be labelled a ‘Palace’ (French terminology for a hotel a cut above five-star). Opened in 1925, and now one of the Oetker group hotels, its marble foyer, crystal chandeliers, 17th-century tapestries, and Louis XV and XVI style furnishings, resonate affluence. The hotel has an award-winning spa, a sixth-floor swimming pool with panoramic views across Paris, and two Michelin-starred restaurants. Just 14 miles from Orly Airport and 18.5 miles from Charles de Gaulle Airport, the hotel also offers charging points for electric vehicles, should you decide to hire a car during your stay.

Stay in the regal building that was once home to Prince Roland Bonaparte. It’s listed among France’s “Monuments Historiques” and has an enviable location opposite the Seine and facing the Eiffel Tower. As such, rooms (all with seating areas, marble bathrooms and Guerlain toiletries) have an outlook of one or both of these landmarks, with private balconies providing the opportunity for the most romantic of selfies. The hotel group has its roots in Asia, so you’ll find plenty of aesthetic and cultural influences, particularly in the food. And the dining at Shangri-La Paris is something very special, with two refined restaurants, one of which is Michelin-starred.

Just moments away from the Louvre and the Marais, the Cheval Blanc Paris gracefully rises out of the Seine. Occupying a historic yet beautifully renovated Maison, the Cheval Blanc’s interior – designed by Peter Marino- is playful and distinctly French. The hotel’s 72 rooms and suites are intimate and luxurious, many also boast commanding views of the city. Many of the hotel’s exclusive suites even have some of the best views of the Eiffel Tower and the Seine to be found anywhere in Paris. The Cheval is home to the Dior Spa and Rossano Ferretti salon and thus it meets every beauty and wellness need of its guests. The Cheval is home to Hakuba, a stylish Japanese restaurant, and Le Tout-Paris a Michelin-starred brasserie and cocktail bar which gazes out over Paris. For a true culinary experience, guests can also dine at Plenitude, a three Michelin star restaurant which serves some of the best food to be found anywhere in France.