La Fondation Hotel: Rooftop Bar, Sports Club in the 17th

Visitors traveling to Paris often send us emails asking for tips on off-the-radar neighborhoods where they’ll avoid tourist crowds and soak up the ambiance of local Parisian life. One such area we love is Batignolles in the 17th. With laid-back village vibes and a thriving restaurant scene, the neighborhood has great energy.

It’s here in the 17th- between Batignolles and Parc Monceau- where a hotel newcomer is turning heads. La Fondation opened a few months ago with standout facilities including a rooftop bar and an enormous 80-ft swimming pool. We recently stopped in for a drink and meal at the lobby brasserie, and found kind staff and a cool crowd lining up for seats on the no-reservations rooftop. Here you can order one of the signature cocktails like the Douce Flamme, made with chipotle-infused mezcal, and admire the Eiffel Tower and sublime Paris panoramas.

La Fondation isn’t just a 58-room hotel, but an entire lifestyle destination with co-working spaces; a full wellness club with a spa, climbing wall and that dreamy pool; two restaurants including the afore-mentioned brasserie (we loved the tarte tatin made with Roscoff onions, plus the cod confit); and a cultural program of exhibitions, talks, and concerts.

Art is everywhere – an important element for New York design firm Roman and Williams- and the rooms are kitted out with bespoke furniture and floor-to-ceiling windows which flood the space with natural light. The New York Times T magazine notes that there are references “to the city’s late Modernist period: rooms feature color-blocked walls bordered by oak frames — a nod to Yves Saint Laurent’s 1965 Mondrian dress.”

DETAILS

La Fondation
40 rue Legendre, 17th
Metro: Pont Cardinet, Malesherbes, Villiers, Rome
From $440 a night