Tucked into a quiet location just off Paris’ busiest shopping avenue, Hôtel Balzac is a bastion of 1930s-inspired luxury and quiet calm
So the idea of staying near the Champs-Élysées – the touristy and often maligned shopping boulevard that runs from Place de la Concorde all the way to the Arc de Triomphe – had never crossed my mind.
On my recent visit to the City of Lights for the autumn/winter 2025 haute couture shows, however, I decided to base myself there for a couple of days before the rest of the fashion crowd touched down. My choice of accommodation was Hôtel Balzac, located just off the busy Champs-Élysées.
The hotel, which reopened last year after a lengthy renovation and redesign by French design firm Festen Architecture, is housed in a historic building where 19th-century writer Honoré de Balzac lived, and is located on Rue Balzac, also named after the scribe.
The refurbishment added a Japanese-inspired subterranean sanctuary, Spa Ikoi, which offers treatments ranging from shiatsu massage to signature facials such as Kobido and Hoshin. Tatami mats and shoji-style sliding doors make you feel like you’re escaping Paris for the far eastern nation.
