THE PENINSULA PARIS

Call me a cliché, but when I think of Paris I imagine myself leaning over a filigree iron balcony, the Eiffel Tower rising majestically in the background, the surrounding buildings as pompous and romantic as my own residence. The Peninsula Paris has all this in spades. The website refers to it as ‘exquisitely Parisian’ and it’s true – nowhere feels quite as opulent and magical as the Rooftop Suite of a 200-room hotel, which sprawls the length of an entire street and is minutes from the Arc de Triomphe. Here, one has views across those city rooftops – 360 degrees, which includes the capital’s most iconic landmark. Inside the suite itself, things are modern – the curved bathroom is decked floor to ceiling in marble (with – wait for it – a heated toilet seat!) and the dressing room is like a mirrored jewellery box, but the decor is slick business: dark wood, soothing grey, metallics and modern art. The tech is also out of this world, with interactive bedside tablets (which can be programmed in 11 languages) and LED touch-screen wall panels to control room temperature and lighting.

But it’s the tradition I crave, so I feel most joyful in the hotel’s Le Lobby, a restaurant that has been faithfully restored in the style of the Bell Epoque era (gold, stripes and palm leaves) and offers a famed afternoon tea of pistachio madeleines and cranberry scones, and next door’s cosy Le Bar Kléber, with its oak panelling, gilded mouldings and colossal silk peacock wall hangings.

Apparently, it was here that the Paris Peace Accords – which ended the Vietnam War – were signed in 1973. It feels steeped in history and significance, the kind of place you might order a cocktail (might I recommend the Kléber Mule: vodka, elderflower, basil, lime and ginger beer) and lose yourself in another world – or another lifetime – for a few hours. The Peninsula is not cheap (is the phrase reassuringly expensive?!), but for a very special occasion, it’s hard to beat. SARAH TOMCZAK

TRIP NOTES 19 Avenue Kléber, Paris. Rooftop garden suite from £3,396 per night. Visit paris.peninsula.com

Clockwise from above: the ornate facade of The Peninsula; Le Lobby is the perfect setting to experience The Penisula’s famed afternoon tea; the rooftop L’oiseau Blanc restaurant has a stunning view of the most famous landmark in Paris