Shangri-La Hotel Paris

A short walk from the Palais Galliera fashion museum and the Musée d’Art Moderne, in the grandest part of the 16th arrondissement, stands the majestic Shangri-La Paris, a hotel for history buffs and corporate lawyers alike. Housed in the former private residence of Prince Roland Bonaparte, grandnephew of Napoléon Bonaparte, the new hotel has lovingly restored reception rooms listed in the official register of the Monuments Historiques and decor that mixes French extravagance (period wooden carvings and mosaics, gilded staircase ramps) with Asian discretion (Chinese paintings, Ming-inspired vases). Nearly half of its 81 large rooms and suites have dramatic views of the Eiffel Tower, and a number of them come with a balcony or a terrace; the Shangri-La Suite has the biggest, at 1,076 square feet, with unforgettable city vistas. The hotel’s French gastronomy restaurant L’Abeille earned two Michelin stars this year and the Cantonese restaurant Shang Palace is the only Chinese restaurant in Paris with a Michelin star. (Rooms, from $775)