Summer Paris Hotels – Best Rooftops, Gardens & Pools
It’s been a while; I have been wanting to write a Where to Stay in Paris This Summer type article, et voilà, my loves!
If you’re coming to Paris between June and September, here’s the truth: the city goes vertical. Every hotel with even a sliver of rooftop real estate turns it into a bar, a garden, or a plunge pool the second the weather warms up, and that changes where you actually want to sleep. A gorgeous lobby doesn’t matter nearly as much in August as a good rooftop with a decent Aperol Spritz and a view of the Eiffel Tower at golden hour.
So this is my summer-specific list. Not “the best hotels in Paris” in general (well, that’s a different post) but the best places to stay right now, in the warm months, when what you really want after a long day of walking is somewhere to relax with some AC even.
Quick answer, if you’re short on time: for the most talked-about new rooftop of the year, book SAX Paris or Hôtel Rochechouart. For a proper garden escape in the middle of the city, it’s the Ritz or La Fantaisie. For something nobody else on your group chat has done, sleep on the Seine at OFF Paris Seine. Read on for the full list, arrondissement by arrondissement.
Ps you can trust me, I’ve been living in Paris for almost 20 years! come see me on the instawebs @myparisianlife
Ritz Paris
- the original, and still the one every other garden is measured against
Address: 15 Place Vendôme, 75001 Paris
One of the swankiest hotels in all of Paris. The legendary Grand Jardin, restored along with the rest of the hotel in its four-year renovation, is a proper Versailles-style garden hidden right behind Place Vendôme, and from late April through mid-September it hosts the Ritz Summer Bar: cocktails and canapés under the lime trees from 3pm onward. Book a Deluxe Suite and your room opens directly onto it. It’s the closest Paris comes to a private country garden without leaving the 1st arrondissement, and yes, Bar Hemingway is still exactly as good as everyone says.
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Cheval Blanc Paris
- LVMH’s first Parisian hotel, and the rooftop with the best address on the Seine
Address: 8 Quai du Louvre, 75001 Paris
This one is for the fashion-forward crowd. Set inside the old Samaritaine department store, right on the river facing Pont Neuf, this is Paris’s most quietly extravagant summer opening. The seasonal rooftop, Le Jardin de Cheval Blanc, blooms with cherry trees from June through October on the 7th floor, and Le Tout Paris does double duty as a rooftop brasserie by day and one of the most coveted sunset tables in the city by night. Only 72 rooms, a Dior Spa with an indoor pool lit from above, and a level of quiet, considered luxury I genuinely don’t see anywhere else in Paris. Book ahead for the rooftop even if you’re not staying here.
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The Peninsula Paris
- a rose garden on the roof, a stone’s throw from the Arc de Triomphe
Address: 19 Avenue Kléber, 75116 Paris
Perched on the sixth and top floor with a 360-degree view that takes in the Eiffel Tower dead-on, Le Rooftop at the Peninsula gets dressed in old roses every summer, with cocktails and dishes finished with honey and herbs from the hotel’s own rooftop beehives and vegetable garden. It’s romantic in a way most rooftop bars simply aren’t trying to be, and it books out fast for sunset, so plan ahead. A classic five-star with genuinely warm service, and one of the more peaceful rooftops on this list despite the location.
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SAX Paris
- the newest arrival on this list, and already one of the most talked-about
Address: 55 Avenue de Saxe, 75007 Paris
Let’s talk about the new new! Opened in 2025 as Hilton’s first LXR property in France, SAX is housed in a former neo-Gothic telephone exchange on the Left Bank and comes with a two-story rooftop, Kinugawa Rive Gauche, serving Franco-Japanese cuisine with the Eiffel Tower practically in your lap. It’s the kind of new opening that instantly reshuffles the city’s rooftop hierarchy: 118 rooms, a heated outdoor pool in the Jardin SAX, and a rooftop that’s just as good for a quiet lunch as it is for sunset cocktails. If you want to be able to say you stayed somewhere before everyone else, this is it.
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Brach Paris
- Philippe Starck’s rooftop vegetable garden, with a Nordic hot tub for good measure
Address: 1-7 Rue Jean Richepin, 75016 Paris
Nestled between the Eiffel Tower and Trocadéro, Brach doesn’t do a conventional rooftop bar so much as a rooftop garden. This hotel in Paris in summer has a genuine kitchen garden with rosemary bushes, a swimming pool below, and suites that come with their own furnished terrace and jacuzzi looking straight at the Iron Lady. This summer the rooftop transforms into La Villa Minuty in partnership with the Provençal wine estate, so expect a distinctly French Riviera mood up there through September. Splurge on a suite if you can; the private outdoor hot tub view is genuinely one of the best in Paris.
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Kimpton St Honoré Paris
- Art Deco glamour in the Opéra district, with a rooftop that does DJ sets on weekends
Address: 5 Boulevard des Capucines, 75002 Paris
Housed in a beautifully preserved 1917 Art Nouveau building near Opéra Garnier, this is one of the more design-forward hotels on this list, with interiors by Charles Zana. Up on the 10th floor, Sequoia is a 300-square-metre seasonal terrace with a 360-degree view stretching from the Opera to the Eiffel Tower, and on Fridays and Saturdays it turns into a proper night out with live DJ sets. Good for travellers who want nightlife energy without leaving the hotel.
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SO/ Paris
- fashion-world glamour between Le Marais and Île Saint-Louis, with a glass-walled rooftop club
Address: 6 Quai de la Tournelle, 75005 Paris
If you want your hotel in Paris in summer to feel like part of the night out, this is the one. SO/ Paris sits discreetly between Le Marais and Île Saint-Louis with sweeping views of the Eiffel Tower, Notre-Dame, and the Seine skyline from its upper floors. Bonnie, the restaurant on the 15th floor, has serious festive-dinner energy, and above it, the 16th-floor bar and Paris’s only glassed-in rooftop club run late into the night. This one’s for the traveller who wants their hotel to double as their Saturday night plan.
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La Fantaisie
- a whimsical garden hotel in the 9th, with a Dominique Crenn restaurant to match
Address: 24 Rue Cadet, 75009 Paris
Easily one of the most photographed new hotels in Paris, and for good reason. La Fantaisie is one of the only five-star hotels in the city with both a full landscaped garden and an expansive rooftop bar, Bar Sur Le Toit, all wrapped in Martin Brudnizki’s exuberant, floral, slightly 1970s design. It’s also home to Golden Poppy, three-Michelin-starred chef Dominique Crenn’s first Parisian restaurant. Tucked into the lively Faubourg-Montmartre neighbourhood between Pigalle and the Grands Boulevards, this is where I send anyone who wants their hotel to feel like a destination in itself.
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Hôtel Rochechouart
- Art Deco revival at the foot of Montmartre, with a rooftop that’s become a proper local institution
Address: 55 Boulevard de Rochechouart, 75009 Paris
Since 1929, this Art Deco building has hosted everyone from Moulin Rouge performers to Montmartre’s artistic crowd, and its recent renovation by architecture firm Festen brought it roaring back. Maggie’s Rooftop, on the 9th floor, is a 100-square-metre terrace with fig trees, almond trees, and vines growing right alongside 360-degree views of Montmartre, Sacré-Cœur, and La Défense — and as of this year, it’s open for lunch as well as sunset drinks. There’s also a speakeasy-style basement bar, Le Mikado Dancing, for later in the night. One of my favourite additions to the Pigalle-Montmartre hotel in paris in summer scene in years.
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Terrass” Hôtel
- the original Montmartre rooftop, with a view that’s hard to beat from anywhere else in the city
Address: 12-14 Rue Joseph de Maistre, 75018 Paris
Opened in 1911 and still going strong, Terrass” sits right on the Montmartre hill, and its 7th-floor rooftop has one of the most complete panoramas in Paris: the Eiffel Tower, Les Invalides, and Sacré-Cœur, all from the same table. It leans into a seasonal theme every year (this year it’s a whimsical Western mood, with a whisky-forward bar called The Ranch), but the view never changes. No reservation needed for the rooftop bar itself, which makes it an easy stop even if you’re staying elsewhere in Montmartre.
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Villa M
- a wellness-minded Philippe Starck hotel with fruit trees on the roof
Address: 28 Boulevard Pasteur, 75015 Paris
Villa M is a slightly different proposition: a hotel built around health and wellbeing, with a Boxing & Fitness Club downstairs and a rooftop planted with actual fruit trees up top. From April to September, the rooftop restaurant and bar open with a 360-degree view over the Eiffel Tower, Tour Montparnasse, and the Dôme des Invalides, genuinely one of the more surprising panoramas on this list, since the 15th doesn’t get talked about nearly enough for its views. A good choice if you want your Paris stay to feel restorative rather than purely indulgent.
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PLEY Hotel
- a radio-themed rooftop near the Champs-Élysées, with a very Italian aperitivo mood
Address: 214 Rue du Faubourg Saint-Honoré, 75008 Paris
Tucked a few minutes’ walk from the Champs-Élysées, PLEY is a fun hotel in Paris in summer. Its whole design concept pays tribute to the 8th arrondissement’s radio broadcasting history, with archival Europe 1 photographs, vintage radio sets sourced from all over France, and contemporary art scattered throughout its 100 rooms. Downstairs, Pleyground does Italian pinsa (Rome’s answer to pizza) and a proper dolce vita atmosphere; up on the rooftop, it’s all Parigi da bere, cocktails, spritz, and antipasti with a panoramic view over the city, open daily from 5pm to 11pm. A playful, design-driven choice in one of the more upscale corners of the Right Bank.
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Mama Shelter Paris East
- playful, affordable, and unpretentious, with a rooftop that feels like a house party
Address: 109 Rue de Bagnolet, 75020 Paris
Mama Shelter is the one hotel on this list that doesn’t take itself too seriously, and that’s exactly the point. The rooftop in the 20th arrondissement is packed with colourful furniture, a ping-pong table, and a foosball table, and reopens seasonally for grills, barbecues, and cocktails Thursday through Saturday. It’s not about the view here (there’s a fence blocking most of it, if we’re being honest, it’s about the atmosphere, and it’s one of the more budget-friendly ways to get a proper Paris rooftop summer without a five-star price tag.
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OFF Paris Seine
- Paris’s first floating hotel, with a plunge pool that feels like an infinity pool over the river
Address: 86 Quai d’Austerlitz, 75013 Paris
This is the one everyone asks me about, and it deserves it. OFF Paris Seine is a converted catamaran moored at the foot of Gare d’Austerlitz, Paris’s first (and only) floating hotel, with 54 cabin-style rooms and a plunge pool at its centre that looks straight out onto the river, almost like an infinity pool suspended over the Seine. Some rooms sit right at water level for an even more immersive effect. It’s not a “rooftop” in the traditional sense, but in the summer, dinner by that pool with a cocktail in hand is one of the more unusual and memorable things you can do with a hotel stay in Paris.
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Pullman Paris Montparnasse (Skybar Paris)
- Paris’s highest rooftop, 32 floors up
Address: 19 Rue du Commandant René Mouchotte, 75014 Paris
If it’s altitude you’re after, this is your answer. Skybar Paris sits 115 metres above the city on the 32nd floor of the Pullman Paris Montparnasse — the highest rooftop bar in the city — with a retro-’70s design and a panoramic view of the Eiffel Tower that genuinely rivals the view from the tower itself. It’s a members’-and-hotel-guests style venue with a strict door policy and dress code (smart and chic, 18+), so it feels more exclusive than most rooftops on this list. Reservations open on a rolling 30-day basis, and it’s worth planning around.
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[MAP YOUR PARIS SUMMER HOTELS HERE]
https://stay22.com/embed/6a5bc6ad0d30f9c7d29e15a7
Voila, there you have it my friends.
Fourteen ways to spend your summer evenings above the rooftops of Paris (and one very memorable way to spend it on the river). Not sure which one fits your particular trip? I plan personalized Paris itineraries and hotel picks for a living, feel free to reach out and I’ll help you sort it out.
Hugs, Yanique @myparisianlife
FAQ: Best Rooftop & Pool Hotels in Paris This Summer
What is the best rooftop hotel in Paris in summer? For a landmark garden experience, the Ritz Paris and Cheval Blanc Paris lead the pack. For the buzziest new opening, SAX Paris and Hôtel Rochechouart are the two most talked-about rooftops this year. For nightlife energy, SO/ Paris and Kimpton St Honoré Paris both run rooftop clubs and DJ sets through the summer.
Which Paris hotel has a pool with a view of the Seine? OFF Paris Seine, a floating hotel moored near Gare d’Austerlitz, has a plunge pool at its centre with unobstructed views over the river, the only hotel pool in Paris actually floating on the Seine.
Which Paris hotel has the highest rooftop bar? Skybar Paris, at the Pullman Paris Montparnasse, sits 115 metres up on the 32nd floor and is the highest rooftop bar in the city.
Which Paris hotels have a rooftop with a garden? Ritz Paris (Grand Jardin), Brach Paris (rooftop vegetable garden), La Fantaisie (rooftop bar plus full landscaped garden), and Villa M (rooftop planted with fruit trees) all combine greenery with their rooftop experience.
What’s a good budget-friendly rooftop hotel in Paris? Mama Shelter Paris East is the most affordable option on this list, with a lively, unpretentious rooftop that opens seasonally for grills and cocktails.
When do Paris hotel rooftops open for the season? Most seasonal rooftops in Paris open between April and June and stay open through September, weather permitting, Cheval Blanc Paris’s rooftop, for example, runs mid-May through mid-September, and the Ritz Summer Bar runs late April through mid-September.
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