Deciding where to lodge in Paris amounts to so much more than finding a fabulous room. A city of irresistible charm and exquisite beauty, Paris will make you feel a bit like Gene Kelly in An American in Paris: your love is here to stay. Don't be surprised if you find yourself desiring a true pied-à-terre: literally, a "foot on the ground"–a place that feels more like a secondary home than just a place to pass through. But you don't have to rent (or buy) a flat to feel like you've got a foothold on fabulous Parisian real estate. The city's finest hotels are housed in unique properties that run the gamut from royal estates to hidden cloisters, and they'll make you feel so at home with lavish pampering that you'll forget you're not in your own personal pied-à-terre. Of course, just as in the real estate game, it's all about location, location, location.

Clustered near the cultural and retail heart of the Avenue des Champs-Élysées and the shopping paradise of Rue Saint-Honoré, the grandes dames of the hotel scene hark back to the grandeur of Paris's gilded past. While the Four Seasons George V is set in a 1920s building, the marble and gold lobby filled with tapestries and fine art tips its hat to 18th century courtly elegance. Even "moderate" rooms here are fit for royalty, fashioned as they are with crystal chandeliers. Equally chandeliered and Old Master-ed is Le Meurice, where the Louis XVI style has been recently updated with subtle hints of Philippe Starck's modernist Midas touch. The gilded décor and fashion-forward lounges of the sumptuous Hôtel Plaza Athénée Paris make it a magnet for celebs from Madonna to Mary Kate, but small touches like the menu of pillows make it feel homey (no wonder this was Carrie Bradshaw's pied-à-terre while she waited in the wings for her stormy "lovah").

Aside from these doyennes, there's a great deal of variety to be had along the Avenue des Champs-Élysées. Though Hôtel Fouquet's Barrière is a relative new kid on the block (it opened in 2006), the spoiled-rotten luxury here is old school (think miles of velvet and personal butler service for every guest). The antique-laden rooms in the historic mansion that houses the Hôtel Lancaster feel like the private quarters of a well-traveled aristocrat. At L'Hôtel de Sers, you'd never guess from the elegant manor house exteriors that sleek modern minimalism awaits inside. Or, take a journey down the Silk Road at Hôtel Daniel, where each unique room is filled with an array of exotic chinoiserie treasures. In spite of its proximity to fab shopping and dining along the Champs, its quiet side street location makes this petite boutique a tranquil hideaway.

Stepping away from the hurly-burly of Paris’s center, you’ll find a smattering of small-scale hotels located in our most favorite (and not quite as touristy) fashionable neighborhoods. While Hôtel du Petit Moulin occupies a whimsical 17th century bakery building in bohemian Le Marais, fashion designer Christian Lacroix has cooked up outrageous modern designs for the rooms. And the suites at Pavillon de la Reine, on Le Marais’ Place des Vosges, are definitely worth the splurge (the two-level "Duplex" suite feels more like an apartment than a hotel room). Close to the best Left Bank shopping, Relais Christine will transport you back to the 16th century, set as it is in a former abbey (check out the spa located under stone vaults). Perhaps the intimacy of these boutique properties will appeal to your pied-à-terre sensibilities the most. But no matter where you decide to settle in for the night, our Paris hotel picks will give you the delicious illusion that you've got your own little piece of Parisian real estate.

Photo of Hôtel Plaza Athénée Paris courtesy of Hôtel Plaza Athénée Paris