Hotel Georges V

Tucked away on a quiet, inconspicuous street on the edge of the St Géry quarter, all 17 rooms at this 1859-built hotel are bathed in sunshine streaming through big picture windows. Run by a warm, friendly family, everything about this place is homey and cosy.

The checked tablecloth breakfast room has china plates on picture rails, watercoloured pen-and-ink drawings on the walls and stained-glass leadlight windows in the reception area. Room sizes vary: some doubles are teensy, and bathrooms in the single rooms are so itty-bitty that you have to clamber over the toilet to reach the single-size sit-down bathtub with hand-held shower (fortunately the wash basin is in the main part of the room). The decor's updated, fresh and clean, if not stylish (a few of the bathrooms boast iridescent mosaic tiles), but all rooms, especially those tucked under the eaves on the top floor with slanted ceilings, have every charm and comfort you could want, at a veritable steal for this popular part of town.