Le Pavillon, Paris

Privately owned by one family,  luxury boutique hotels Pavillon de la Reine and Pavillon des Lettres exude elegance and modernity with all the service and charm of a grand palace  - and the understated sophistication of a private home. Pavillon de la Reine, deep in the historic Marais, is the only luxury hotel on the beautiful and romantic Place des Vosges.  The hotel dates back to the 17th century, covered in greenery and set back and hidden away from the galleries and cafés of the Place by a private courtyard garden.  With a recent makeover by interior designer Didier Benderli, a protégé of Jacques Garcia, this gorgeous boutique hotel combines contemporary style with beautiful historic touches.   Sharing the same designer, Pavillon des Lettres, just off the Faubourg St Honoré in the 8th arrondissement, pays homage to literature with each of its 26 rooms representing a letter of the alphabet and dedicated to a writer - B for Baudelaire, S for Shakespeare ...with a text by that writer stencilled onto the walls. To distinguish the hotel further technology lives alongside the classics – every guestroom and suite has an iPad which replaces the traditional room directory.  The iPads are also loaded with books in several different languages, as well as playlists and international newspapers.