Marla and I stayed in Paris before taking a Seine River cruise with Uniworld last month. We have stayed at many Paris hotels after 45+ visits over the years, usually in the 6th, 7th, or the 5th arrondissements. Marla tasked me to find a new place for our Paris trip. I came up with the Hotel Duc de Saint-Simon in the 7th arr. It is a perfect place if you love quintessentially quaint Paris hotels. It is full of charm, antiques, lovely style and on a wonderfully quiet street walkable everywhere!

The hotel built in 1904 was originally a 18th century mansion. The luxurious lobby is perfect for an afternoon cocktail or reading a book. One is definitely transported to a Paris of long ago.

Paris hotel rooms are often quite small so we chose this one as it came with a beautiful terrace.

Since Marla and I spent most of our working life in the wholesale decorative fabric, window covering, and home furnishing arena we loved the Toile De Jouy fabric covered walls. I’ve had an obsession forever for antique prints so these 18th century lithographs of exotic fish were perfect!

A view of our beautiful sun-filled terrace.

Marla catches up on some emails.

We had breakfast downstairs in an ancient cellar.

The breakfast was set up on a vintage zinc bar.

We couldn’t have been happier!

A view from our breakfast room.

A bronze copy of Gutmar Olovson’s sculpture, “Les Deux Arbres.”

A few old bottles are displayed on a zinc shelf.

While planning our day I distinctly remember Marla saying…”Oh, do we really need to even leave the hotel?” I could have dreamt this!

We absolutely love these downstairs rooms and felt transported to a luxurious distant place.

A painting adorns a wall in the entrance.

I’m enjoying a little relaxing time on our brief Paris trip.

You can see the Hotel Duc de Saint-Simon location on the lower left. It is just a few short blocks from the Boulevard Saint-Germain. The Musee d’Orsay is less than a 15 minute walk from the hotel.

Photos: Dick Gentry ( and from the Hotel Duc de Saint-Simon) Not to be used without permission.