5 Star on a Budget - Le Meurice

There's no way you can afford to stay here so I won't even talk prices but if you want to pretend that you did, slide into the bar, get a table and order a few cocktails, take in the room and think of bygone eras where style counted and money was cheap.

So four cocktails will set you back about 100 euros which is cheaper than the Ritz and is a grander room than the Hemingway Bar. When I go to New York City I always head to the Oak Room for a cocktail because it is a civilized room as I live in the Midwest. (Actually the lobby bars at the Brown in Louisville and the Netherland Plaza in Cincinnati are not too shabby.)

But the lobby bar at Le Meurice is for me the best spot to have a very expensive cocktail in a truly grand, historic room. So if you are ever in Paris I will meet you there as long as you are buying. And the chips and nuts are free as is the people watching.