Banke Hotel

Class: First

Style: Cutting edge

Rooms: 93

In yet another addition to Paris’s burgeoning array of Grand Dame hideaways, the latest opening from uber-luxe Spanish-based hotel chain - the Derby Collection - comes in the form of Banke, a sprawling Catalonian gem set in the heart of the Quartier Haussmann. Combining Parisian sumptuousness with starck North African features, a 19 metre high, glass domed and mosaic tiled entrance lobby sets the tone of things to come. The hotel boasts two restaurants - serving Spanish staples such as calamari, roasted artichoke and an eclectic charcuterie - and a brooding teahouse-cum-cocktail-bar, which makes a seamless move from ginseng to G&T as the sun sets over the Haussmann. Designed by architects Paul Fresse and Cassien Bernard, the synthesis between avant garde and antique is evident in everything from the chandelier studded public spaces and gilded vermilion hallways, down to the plush, open guestrooms, and the Phillipe Starck stools that dot the bar. Taking the building’s grand architectural roots as a kick off point, Fresse and Bernard have succeeded in bringing a slice of opulent Catalonian calm to the centre of Paris. Source: Wallpaper* Magazine June 2009.