THE FACTS ABOUT HOTEL DU BOURG TIBOURG

France Paris

AVANT-GARDE If you've ever wondered what it would be like to stay chez Addams Family, now's your chance to find out. Owned by the Costes family and located in the Marais - Paris's answer to Notting Hill - the 31-room Hôtel du Bourg Tibourg has been refurbished by Jacques Garcia in a style more usually associated with Frankenstein films. Beyond the wrought-iron front doors, the lobby is a dimly lit mixture of neo-gothic, Oriental and period French, with heavy curtains, chests and ornate gold lamps. Downstairs, things get even more dramatic in the stone-walled cellar/breakfast room (there's no restaurant), where blue, leopard-print 'throne' chairs and a huge wall tapestry are lit by black-metal chandeliers complete with flickering, flame-shaped bulbs. From the lobby, a warren of narrow corridors lined in red-velvet leads to 31 rooms. Uniformly dark and small (except on the relatively light sixth floor), they feel like secret dens, and it's hard to tell if it's day or night from within. ROOMS Whether you're in a stripy single, a blue twin or a red deluxe, the amusing, pop-Gothic atmosphere is maintained with dark panelling, fabric-covered walls, velvet tables and tall, free-standing iron lamps. All rooms have small but luxurious black-marble bathrooms with beautiful, traditional, white sinks. CONTACT Hôtel du Bourg Tibourg, 19 rue du Bourg-Tibourg, 75004 Paris (00 33 1 42 78 47 39; fax 40 29 07 00; www.hoteldubourgtibourg.com) ££