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Knowing or finding a good hotel in Paris has always been an essential part of any successful stay in the 'City of Light'. Hotels in the modern sense have existed here probably longer than in any other city in the Western world - in fact the French invented the concept. Two types of Parisian hotel are lodged in our image of Paris: the grand hotel of the boulevards, where men in peaked caps greet us on the step and where breakfast in our room on a Sunday morning is every bit as much of a cultural highlight as a visit to the nearby Musee d'Orsay.

The other is the garret, where a chain-smoking madame offers us a key at the desk and where old creaky steps lead up to a wooden-beamed room of indeterminate antiquity, with a huge free-standing tub and views to die for. Breakfast here is taken at our own risk - far better to find the neighbourhood café nearby.

In the first category we have the Meurice, the Crillon, the Bristol and the Ritz. In the latter, the Jeanne d'Arc, the Esmeralda and the Croisé. More recently, of course, we have had the advent of the 'boutique' hotel - from the super trendy, and snooty, Costes to the bright and breezy Buci Latin. And, in between, a raft of real treasures. The challenge is to find value and tranquillity in a great position, which is what the following list has attempted to do. This is a city you should come back to time and time again: no one hotel is right for everyone, but the right choice is the one that comes to feel, almost, like home.

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