Hot address: Maison Souquet

What do you get when one of Paris’ infamous maisons (or, more plainly, glamorous brothels) is converted into a boutique hotel? The answer is the opulent Maison Souquet, which is located in the once-scandalous-now-gentrified neighbourhood Pigalle, which houses the Moulin Rouge. The hotel’s luxe velvet-and-gold interiors are courtesy celebrated architect and designer Jacques Garcia, who used Arabian, Oriental and French aesthetics to create this ‘temple to hedonism’. 

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COZY NOOK
The gilded lobby — named Salon des 1001 Nights after Scheherazade’s classic — leads into a manor-worthy library bar. Here, you can settle down with a leather-bound tome by the fireplace, engage in a board game (backgammon, anyone?), or unwind with the hotel’s signature drink, Secrets of the Unicorn (a rum and mulled-wine cocktail).

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STAR ATTRACTION
The Celestial Spa includes a hammam and a 10m-long indoor swimming pool. You can choose to book the pool all for yourself and swim under the glistening blue-and-gold ceiling.

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SUITE SPOT
Each of the 20 rooms in the hotel is named after a real-life courtesan, and is lushly dressed in jewel-toned damask and brocade walls, and silk peacock-feather-print wallpapers. Maison Souquet hasn’t skimped on the details, either: the bath products are by Hermès.

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