The design story, confidently begun in the lobby and lounge, continues right through to the superbly designed and outfitted rooms and suites. Modernist abstract paintings, in a nod to Norman, adorn the walls with made-to-measure rosewood and oak furnishings complemented by pieces sourced from antique dealers. The snug bathroom features ceramic mosaic walls and a marble hand basin below a vanity fashioned from rosewood, glass and steel. Although a few rooms here have views of the Eiffel Tower, my corner suite with its curved window and balcony pleasantly overlooks an avenue dominated by 19th-century Haussman-style offices and apartments as well as a stately post office.
Food + drink
Food and wine at Thiou, Hotel Norman’s inhouse and upscale Thai restaurant.
No one comes to Paris to eat Thai (well, except perhaps for Thai tourists) but after 10 days or so in France, including a side-trip to the Franco-Germanic Strasbourg with its heavy cuisine, a change of diet for this inhouse guest is a welcome one. It can be found at Thiou, Hotel Norman’s inhouse and upscale Thai restaurant set in an elegant indoor and courtyard space. The menu at Thiou, named after the eponymous Thai chef, is open for breakfast, lunch and dinner and includes such dishes as crispy soft shell crab, green mango salad with Thai herbs and roast fillet of sea bream with ginger and chives. After lunch or dinner (or even between), retire to what Hotel Norman likes to refer to as its “nerve centre”, namely the adjacent commodious bar and lounge where you can feel as comfortable ordering a coffee as you can a cocktail.
Out + about
What’s French for “on yer bike”? Thanks to the city’s semi successful (think: the Seine) pre-Olympic green push, Paris now boasts double the length of bike lanes and paths as Amsterdam. And with public bikes, including electric ones, for rent (BYO helmet) on virtually every avenue corner, cycling has become a fantastic and civilised means by which visitors can enjoy and explore the city. Do give a circumnavigation of the Arc de Triomphe roundabout roadway a miss, though.
The verdict
Balcony views dominated by stately Haussman-style buildings.
There’s nothing too normal about Hotel Norman, including the un-Paris-like inclusion of a Thai diner, and nothing too eccentric either. A member of the Small Luxury Hotels of the World Collection, these stylish and sophisticated yet relaxed and unpretentious digs could be, in their own small, boutique way, a model for a cooler, more welcoming post-Olympics Paris.
Essentials
Rooms from $638 a night (low season). Hotel Norman, 9 Rue Balzac, Paris, France. Ph: +33-(0) 42 99 80 80. See slh.com. Qantas now operates three weekly direct non-stop flights Perth to Paris with connections to and from Sydney, Melbourne and other Australian capitals. See qantas.com
Our rating out of five
★★★★½
Highlight
The hotel’s enviable Right Bank location is right within walking or cycling distance of many of Paris’ most iconic attractions.
Lowlight
Utterly seduced by my designer suite, I confess to spending too much time in it and not in the Paris beyond. Oh well, non, je ne regrette rien and all that.
The writer stayed as a guest of Small Luxury Hotels of the World Collection and travelled courtesy of Qantas Airways.