It’s springtime and my friends are making travel plans for Paris. They ask: Where should I stay? I’ve found four irresistible new boutique hotels to consider when searching for accommodations in the city (make sure you check out my other articles about boutique hotels in Paris). From the quirky to the discreetly luxurious, there’s a place to suit everyone’s tastes. For people attending conventions and conferences at the Palais des Congres, you have been rescued from bland-chain-hotel hell! Les Jardins de la Villa in the 17th arrondissement, with only 33 rooms, each one unique and stylish, is the answer to your prayers.

(1) Notre Dame Saint Michel: this new hotel is designed by Christian Lacroix, a French couturier, whose fussy, theatrical style attracts, not repels, women from all over the world who spend thousands of euros on his evening gowns, dresses, and suits. The economic crisis has plunged Lacroix into bankruptcy, causing anguish among said women. But you can enjoy his unique style at this hotel (see room below). Guaranteed to make your sojourn in Paris a memorable one.

If gazing at the walls and carpets drives you crazy, you can always look outside and meditate on the serene, austere lines of the Notre Dame Cathedral.

In terms of location, this hotel is unbeatable. Ask for the room overlooking the Seine and the Cathedral. Room rates start at 200 Euros.

Hotel Notre Dame Saint Michel
1 Quai Saint-Michel
75005 Paris
France
+33 1 43 54 20 43
http://www.hotelnotredameparis.com

(2) Les Jardins de la Villa: With only 33 rooms and junior suites, this hotel feels like a private mansion set amidst the busy 17th arrondissement, at the edge of central Paris, close to the Palais des Congres and the peripherique (the ring road that drives Parisians and anyone else driving into the city, insane). Les Jardins de la Villa is perfect for people attending a conference in this area, but who cringe at the thought of staying in one of the monotonous, charmless chain hotels that dot the neighborhood (wherever there’s a conference center, there are massive chain hotels). It is still close enough to the Champs Elysees, so you won’t feel exiled to Siberia. The “garden” theme runs throughout the hotel with rooms designed in spring and winter garden motifs. The irony will not be lost on you when you rush past the concrete jungle of the peripherique and the convention center edifices outside the hotel. Prices start at around 300 Euros.

(3) Hotel Secret de Paris: I would have kept this secret all to myself, but alas, I write this travel journal, so I have to give it away. This is a charming 29-room boutique hotel in the 9th arrondissement located approximately halfway between the Montmartre cemetery and the Gare Saint Lazare, on a quiet street off the rue de Clichy. Each room is decorated in the style of a famous Parisian landmark. The Chambre d’Orsay (Orsay room) echoes the Orsay, a train station converted into the Musee d’Orsay. The menacing clocks might give you pause if your idea of a holiday in Paris is to doze until 11:00 in the morning. If decadence is more your style, ask for the Chambre Moulin Rouge, which is, as you would expect, red and vibrant like its namesake. Room rates start at 180 Euros.

Hotel Secret de Paris
2, rue de Parme
75009 Paris
France
+33 1 53 16 33 33
www.hotelsecretdeparis.com

(4) Hotel Joyce: Strictly speaking not a boutique hotel because it is part of a chain, but it has only 44 rooms and each one is uniquely styled, so I am mentioning it here. This hotel is designed by Philippe Maidenberg. The glass-domed breakfast room is unlike anything you’ve ever seen, with airline seats parked against the wall and bulbous ceiling lamps dangling over your croissants. 1950s nostalgia, 1960s bold primary colors and classic late 19th century motifs (as shown in the photo of one of the rooms below) collide in this hotel, but oddly enough, they’ve managed to pull it off. Room rates start at 140 Euros.

Hotel Joyce
29 rue la Bruyère
75009 Paris
France
+33 1 55 07 00 01
http://www.astotel.com/hotel-joyce-paris.php

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• Check out Mapplr’s articles about Paris hotels, restaurants and cafes.
• Shopplr’s guide to the best boutiques in Paris
• Google Map of my favorite hotels, restaurants and cafes in Paris

The Casa Camper Berlin outpost is the second hotel of Camper, the Spanish shoe retailer. The first one is in Barcelona. Casa Camper Berlin is, like its Catalan counterpart, very hip and well-designed. The location – Mitte – is unbeatable. Room rates start at 170 EUR. The hotel has a 24-hour rooftop bar and restaurant called Tentempié, exclusive for hotel guests (see below). The idea is that Tentempié replaces the hotel minibar (nevertheless, I would not wander up there in a bathrobe).

But if you want to dine with others, they have another restaurant called Dos Palillos, designed by Paris-based designers Ronan and Erwan Bouroullec, serving Asian-inspired tapas. The chef de cuisine is Albert Raurich (who was at el Bulli).

Casa Camper
1 Weinmeisterstrasse
10178 Berlin
Germany
+49 30 2000 3410
www.casacamper.com/berlin

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Don’t forget to check out our favorite restaurants, cafes and boutiques in Berlin. We have other Berlin hotels on our list, including the amazing Michelberger Hotel, a funky artsy budget hotel in Friedrichshain.

I love Berlin because it seems to be one of the last cities on earth where cool people get to do cool funky things. Everyone knows that if you want to attract edgy young people, or simply people who are not stuck up, you can’t charge 500 EUR per night for the privilege of sleeping in a bed designed by a washed out French couturier. And if you want to open a hotel in a city that is home to artists from around the world (and their friends), you need to create exactly the kind of space where they would feel at home – a spacey sort of space. This is exactly what the Michelberger Hotel is.

Just check out the Michelberger Hotel website and tell me if you have ever in your life seen any other hotel website like it. Imagine a web designer presenting a website design like the Michelberger’s to the marketing department of the Marriott or the Sheraton hotel chain. You would see ambulances outside rushing hotel marketing executives to the nearest emergency room after their collective heart attack.

The Michelberger’s rooms range from cosy (for a couple) to Band (4-5 single beds, perfect for a rock band) to Michelberger WG (flatshare, shown below, for a bigger group – what fun you can have).

Personally, I am in love with The Clever One (pictured below) with a private library and bathtub by the window.

The hotel is the brainchild of 32 year-old Tom Michelberger and it is designed by Werner Aisslinger. Rates are around 65 EUR per night. There are 119 rooms. The location: in the up and coming Friedrichshain district by the Oberbaum bridge which spans the Spree River.

Michelberger Hotel
Warschauer Straße 39/40
10243 Berlin
Germany
+49 302977859-0
www.michelbergerhotel.com

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Don’t forget to check out our favorite restaurants, cafes and boutiques in Berlin. And if the Michelberger is too much for you, we have other Berlin hotels on our list.

There is so much good Asian food in Melbourne, but if you are craving a bowl of savoury Vietnamese pho, go to Pho Dzung in the Richmond District, which is home to a large Vietnamese community. When we went to Pho Dzung on a Sunday for lunch, we found it packed with Vietnamese families bent over steaming bowls of pho (Vietnamese noodle soup served with fresh mint leaves and bean sprouts on the side). I’ve tried a lot of pho in my life and I can say that this restaurant belongs in my top three pho places.

The restaurant is unpretentious and the prices are low. Make sure you finish off your meal with this favorite Vietnamese dessert: sweet beans and tapioca with crushed ice in coconut milk.

Pho Dzung
208 Victoria St.
Richmond
Melbourne, Australia
+61 3 9427 0292

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Check out my favorite restaurants and hotels in Melbourne and in Sydney.

If you’re looking for a change from the usual Thai/Vietnamese/Chinese cuisine, why not Malaysian? We found this small Malaysian restaurant called Little Malaysia tucked away on a side street in Melbourne’s central business district. It’s not fancy, but the food is very good. My favorites are the beef rendang (pictured below) and the tiny dried anchovies with sambal (it reminds me of a similar dish called dilis in the Philippines except we do not eat it with spicy sauces). The satay (grilled meat on a skewer) is excellent; the curries are rich and savoury.

Little Malaysia
26 Liverpool St.
Melbourne, Australia
+61 3 9662 1678

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Check out my favorite restaurants and hotels in Melbourne and in Sydney.

Bopha Devi is a Cambodian restaurant in the Docklands area of Melbourne, a lively district of restaurants and bars at the waterside. It’s a great place to hang out on a warm summer evening.

Bopha Devi has two things going for it: the amazing food and the modern eclectic decor. It seems popular with groups, especially after work, so the sound level can be positively deafening. But don’t let that stop you. The food is extremely good. They serve small bites that you can share with your dining companions – garlic and chive rice cakes, beef skewers in lemongrass marinade, prawn pucks and the like. But you must not miss the soup. I love the spicy-sour flavours of the tamarind soup with celery, turmeric and lime leaves. My favorite main dish is the “amok”, a steamed fish curry wtih coconut cream and lemongrass. To end the meal, make sure you get the black rice crumble topped with grated coconut caramelized with palm sugar. Wonderful!

Bopha Devi
27 Rakaia Way
Docklands
Melbourne, Australia
+61 3 9600 1887
www.bophadevi.com

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Check out my favorite restaurants and hotels in Melbourne and in Sydney.