IF you’re a Left Bank-type but run screaming with claustrophobia from those cute little lodgings, consider the Lutetia, the closest thing to a palace hotel in St. Germain des Pres.
Writers and politicians do lunch here (in the Lutetia Brasserie) and order cocktails in the lobby bar alongside tourists (keep an eye open for Catherine Deneuve, who does interviews upstairs).
When the Lutetia opened in 1910, the art deco hotel drew French shoppers from the provinces, who spent many hours dropping their francs at Bon Marché, the 5-year-old department store right across the way.
Euros have since replaced francs and Bon Marché is a magnet for savvy shoppers on both banks of the Seine (and the Atlantic).
The 230-room Lutetia was slower to change. Now, its owners, the Taittinger family (who also own the Crillon across the river) have given the old girl a facelift, with 50 new junior suites. In the common areas are sculptures by Arman and Takis, statues by César and Lalique chandeliers. Book the romantic Eiffel Suite duplex, and you get two balconies and tower views from the circular bath (rooms from $281, www.lutetia-paris.com).