The front windows of this 1824 townhouse look straight across Place Boieldieu at the Opéra-Comique, close enough to read what's on tonight. Inside, it's toile de Jouy, oil portraits and an honesty bar that runs until midnight. Hotel and opera house share a name and a couple: Charles Favart, the playwright who ran the theatre opposite, and Justine, the actress he married. Their portraits hang in reception and their names mark the room doors. Beyond the square, the 2nd arrondissement's glass-roofed passages and grand department stores are all strollable in an afternoon, but the square itself stays quiet. Two centuries in, it still has the best seat in the house.
Reception still feels like 1824, just with better lighting. Mirrors and oil portraits of Charles and Justine line the walls, and a fire roars in the library lounge whilst you decide what to do with your evening. The honesty bar opens at 3pm, with a cocktail kit if you're feeling suave, and breakfast brings pastries and yoghurt trucked in daily from a farm in the Yvelines. Below it all, a stone-vaulted basement hides a small pool, tiled to catch the coloured light bouncing off the mirrors. It's rather like swimming in a wine cellar that someone has decorated for a party.
Classics are the compact, cosy option, dressed in 18th-century flourishes with marble-effect shower rooms. Deluxe rooms have wraparound drapes and prints like 'La Leçon de Danse' in pink toile de Jouy, and the ones at the front come with that opera view. The suites are grander still, all Jouy prints and damask, each named for a chapter of the Favarts' story. For families or friends travelling together, La Petite Maison is two apartments joined by a staircase, with room for everyone to spread out.
Cross the square for a night at the Opéra-Comique, the company that premiered Bizet's Carmen in 1875. By day, duck into the covered passages, one tumbling into the next: Passage des Panoramas, Galerie Vivienne, Galerie Colbert, glass roofs overhead and made for wet afternoons. Caves Legrand, at the mouth of Galerie Vivienne, pours a very good tasting, and at Hôtel Drouot you can eye up next week's auction lots before the gavel falls. Bouillon Chartier does the Chantilly cream at afternoon tea properly, and if shopping's the mission, Galeries Lafayette is a short walk north.
Mixing your own cocktail at the honesty bar, then strolling across the square in time for curtain-up.
Not every Deluxe room faces the square, so ask for one directly over Place Boieldieu when you book. The Opéra-Comique's façade really is right outside your curtains.
No restaurant here, just breakfast and the honesty bar, and room service only starts at 5pm. Bouillon Chartier is a short walk for dinner.
Start with a recommended trip or create one from scratch
La Maison Favart can be booked with Timbuktu as part of a tailor-made France trip, rather than as a standalone room reservation. Start online, customising one of our recommended France trips featuring La Maison Favart or get advice and suggestions from one of our France specialists who will design the trip around your dates, check availability and handle every booking for you.
Stays at La Maison Favart start from around $250, or US$250, per person per night as part of a tailor-made trip. The exact price depends on your travel dates, room type and the shape of the rest of your itinerary. A Timbuktu travel specialist can give you an accurate quote for your dates.
Postcard-perfect architecture, world-class food and wine and all that unapologetic, effortless glamour.
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