THE FACTS ABOUT MURANO URBAN RESORT

France Paris

This new 52-room hotel at the edge of the Marais is named after the Murano crystal sculptures, mirrors and chandeliers that decorate the bedrooms and public spaces. A white, muslin-lined corridor leads to a sky-lit central seating area with a huge, white Chesterfield sofa and an enormous working fireplace. Off this is a bar and Mediterranean restaurant, lit by thousands of stalactite-shaped lights suspended from the ceiling. It is headed up by two young chefs, Julien Chicoisne from the Fermes de Marie in Megève and Pierre Auge from London's Sketch. The bedrooms, accessed via electronic fingerprint readers, can be lit in different colours to suit your mood. The beds are huge, the white, shag-pile carpets are gloriously 1970s, and there are floor-to-ceiling mirrors and large Pop Art-style canvases above the beds. The spacious bathrooms are lined entirely with black slate, but annoyingly there are no doors to separate them from the bedrooms. An Anne Semonin spa with a swimming pool and hammam is due to open this summer. WHEN TO GO Any time: cosy up inside if it's cold outside ROOM TO BOOK If money is no object, go for one of the two deluxe suites: both have private pools CONTACT Murano Urban Resort, 13 boulevard du Temple, Paris, France (00 33 1 42 71 20 00; fax: 42 71 21 01; www.muranoresort.com). Doubles from euro 400; deluxe suites from euro 550