Rotary Love Hotel

The Rotary Hotel’s website describes its accommodations as “a small and calm hotel located on the right bank of Paris, a few minutes away from the Moulin Rouge.”

While this benign description is factually correct, it never alludes to the sordid secrets tucked behind the doors of this intriguing 4-story building, or the lustful past it’s said to be hiding.

The history is uncertain and its story is told in rumors, pillow talk, and telephone game whispers. It is said that during its heyday around 1900, the hotel was once a Belle Epoque bordello like the ones depicted by Toulouse-Lautrec in his paintings.

The intricate stairs and dollhouse architecture, as well as its location in what was once the center of the Parisian Red Light District, lends credence to these legends, and today it continues to keep its lips sealed. While no longer the boudoir of the ladies of the evening, the hotel has remained a sexy place to stay the night.

Update June 2019: A hotel called La Mondaine now operates on the property.