Hôtel des Francs Bourgeois

Totally renovated in 2008, this 35-room hotel has a theme for each floor, a name for each room and some wild colour schemes. Room furnishings are minimalist, creating spaces that are uncluttered but may remind you of Ikea; bathrooms are functional and compact. Very central.

The entrance-level's design theme is 'urban metal', on the first floor it's 'land and mist', for the second 'sky and water', and up on the third 'sun and fire'. Every room has a name, related to the theme, and the colour of the door is the colour that predominates inside, so while some rooms come in delightful shades others are garish. On the top floor, for example, fiery reds, oranges and yellows may be hard to take if you're alone but a real turn-on if you and your partner have a colour fetish. Two other drawbacks: there's no lift and none of the rooms have views of any note. Changing exhibits of contemporary art adorn the Zen-style breakfast room and the lobby.