The Monceau presents a far more civilised surrealist experience for those wanting an Inception experience. The Raffles group's prestigious 2010 opening is not a renovation so much as a complete re-imagining. The classical white facade is still there, but the blood-red glass in the ornate iron canopy over the pavement presages the extraordinary interiors beyond.

Designed by Philippe Starck the mirrored walls and patterned tiled floors of a grand staircase make you feel as though you're in an Escher drawing. The chandeliers in the cafe are like banks of white coral; there are corridors with candy-striped walls, carpet and ceiling; and yes - that's a herd of life-sized rustic sculptures of deer and antelope awaiting you at the bottom of a flight of stairs. If writer / director Christopher Nolan didn't stay here while shooting the surrealist Parisian scenes for his sci-fi pic Inception, starring Leonardo DiCaprio, he should have done.

The guest rooms and apartments, by contrast, are pale-toned tranquillity, with an eclectic mix of furniture, interesting lamps and luxurious touches like faux-fur throws. This isn't the blank-canvas style of hotel decor: there are books, decorative items, a bit of clutter. The intention is to create rooms which feel inhabited, like "a dear friend's home." These are obviously the kind of friends we'd all like to have.