Hotel Esprit St Germain by Jamie Dunford Wood

Another recent design hotel opening (2004), this smart left bank offering is high-design rather than simply a formula, though the rates - a least if you are paying full price in busy periods - may put off some. Refreshing, too, is the welcome and level of service, something that the black-clad new media cappucino-quaffing youth of many design hotels feel it beneath them to offer, unless you are one of them, when it's all done in some post-modern shorthand. But if you can get a deal outside the Salon periods you will feel you have done well.

The 31 rooms are designed with comfort in mind, with dark wood, taupe and neutral colours, and original features have been integrated, such as the beams on the fifth floor. Bathrooms are done in a strange resin and fake slate. Books in every room are a nice touch. Where there are no beams, there are stars on the ceiling. The suite and one of the prestige rooms have a terrace, and there is a small gym and sauna/hammam on the fifth floors, with massage by appointment.