Hotel de Banville, a 1930s town house hotel, offers an attractive combination of style, comfort and middle-of-the-road prices in Paris's 17th arondissment. Convenient, too, for motorists: finding your way from the Périphérique to boulevard Berthier is easy, and parking is not impossible.
   The airy Art Deco building the work of a celebrated architect, were told looks promising, and does not disappoint. Inside, all is tastefully decorated and comfortable, bordering on the luxurious . The public rooms have been totally refurbished in stylish soft creams and beiges, enlivened with the occasional dash of colour in a red sofa and chairs. The focal point of the elegantly furnished sitting area/bar is a grand piano, encircled by a ring of spot lights ingeniously set into the floor. A pianist plays here occasionally in the evening. The neutral colour scheme continues into the new look breakfast room, a soothing place to start the day, and a further reception room, which can be closed off for meetings.
   The bedrooms are attractively decorated in individual styles, with thoughtfully chosen fabrics and antiques dotted throughout. Fresh flowers add a reassuring personal touch, as do such small services as having your bed turned down a rare thing in the city nowadays. Staff are extremely friendly, and we suspect that this hotel would be far more expensive if it were on the Left Bank.