The best 50 hotels in France for summer
La belle France is as much about where you stay as what you eat and do. Hotels in this ravishingly varied land of hilltop villages, alpine peaks, cosmopolitan cities and vineyard-stitched countryside are hopelessly enchanting – and never more so than in summer when that chic lifestyle which the French do so enviably well moves outside.
Think luxurious treehouses in the rural Dordogne, design-hot villas on the Atlantic and Med seashores, historic chateaux with romantic dining beneath the stars, ancient riverside mills and urban hotels with rooftop bars – a collection of sublime summertime properties that have been rated and reviewed by Telegraph Travel’s France experts.
Coast
Hotel Belles Rives
Juan-les-Pins, Cap d'Antibes, France
9Telegraph expert rating
Sitting on the water’s edge, betwixt Cap d’Antibes and Juan-les-Pins, this unique Art Deco hotel is chock-full of original features, a stylish living monument to it’s former residents the Scott Fitzgeralds, and the glamour of The Roaring Twenties jazz age. Two beaches: one rocky, one of gentle sand which slopes into a natural seawater bay. Beach staff helpfully procure the best sun loungers: pole position is front row of the jetty, from which you can water-ski across Golfe Juan Bay, the birthplace of water-skiing. Book Marco’s informative boat tour around Cap d’Antibes to swim in the crystal waters of Millionaire’s Bay. Masseuse Patricia provides excellent Swedish deep-tissue massages in her cabana on the beach. Read expert review From £486 per night Check availability Rates provided by Booking.com
• The best hotels on the Cote d'Azur
La Co(o)rniche
Pyla-sur-Mer, Aquitaine, France
8Telegraph expert rating
This ravishing boutique getaway is the height of seaside sophistication. Philippe Starck’s bold white interior evokes local oyster farming, and Europe’s highest sand dune looms large as next-door neighbour. Outstanding seafood dining and sea-and-sand views at every turn are the icing on the cake. This hotel has story. It languishes in a traditional Basque, 1930s hunting lodge that gazes dreamily out onto the big blue seas of the Atlantic Ocean. The public beach is a short walk – if you can drag yourself away from the impossibly stylish infinity pool with cushioned sun loungers and incredible sea views that is. Staff can arrange boat taxis, seafaring picnics, visits to local oyster farms, bike rental and all sorts. Read expert review From £610 per night Check availability Rates provided by Booking.com
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Hotel Byblos
St Tropez, Provence, France
9Telegraph expert rating
Since 1967, the Byblos has come on like the Med's poshest sea-side village. A series of what look like fisherman's houses - all ochre and harmonious - unwind round the pool, and are themselves inundated with Med greenery. the hotel's focus of attention is the heated outdoor pool. Somewhere nearby is France's first Sisley spa, whose Salon Libanais - all 17th-century wooden marquetry and wondrously carved panels - hosted at least part of Mick and Bianca's wedding night. You'll maybe need it after a night in the Caves-du-Roy, France's most celeb-filled night-club. The nearest beaches are a 10-minute walk, the more famous Pampelonne stretch 15 minutes by car. Read expert review From £867 per night Check availability Rates provided by Booking.com
• The best hotels in St Tropez
Hotel du Palais
Biarritz, France
8Telegraph expert rating
Old World elegance and grace in an unmatched, seaside setting. The Hotel du Palais – a true Biarritz icon – dominates the seafront from its elevated perch above sandy Grande Plage. It was originally built by Emperor Napoleon III as a summer retreat for Eugénie, his bride, and retains its regal grandeur to this day. An indoor pool and Guerlain spa occupy an annexe, and there’s a second pool outside with expansive terrace and unbroken sea views. The helpful concierge can arrange surfing lessons, rounds of golf or daytrips to Bayonne or Basque villages. It’s well worth upgrading to a sea-facing room for the sheer joy of waking to the sound of the waves. Read expert review From £465 per night Check availability Rates provided by Booking.com
• The best beach hotels on the French Riviera
Hotel du Cap-Eden-Roc
Cap d'Antibes, Provence, France
9Telegraph expert rating
A throwback to the F.Scott Fitzgerald era, this grand 19th-century mansion on the Cote d’Azur is set among nine hectares of landscaped gardens, with a guest list that reads like the credits of a Hollywood movie. There is a heated infinity pool, five clay tennis courts, 33 cabanas and a boutique. The Sisley spa has four treatment rooms, as well as a sauna, steam room, gym and beauty salon. There are also jet skis, kayaks, stand-up paddle boards and parasailing equipment. Have a drink at the Eden-Roc Champagne Lounge on the Mediterranean. he gastronomic Eden-Roc Restaurant serves classics like roasted sea bass and lobster with tarragon; the Grill offers Provençal-style gambas at the seafront pavilion. Read expert review From £595 per night
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Hotel La Perouse
Nice, Provence, France
9Telegraph expert rating
The seafront Hotel La Perouse has startling sea views, top-class beds and a good restaurant. Though minutes from the centre, La Pérouse seems slightly withdrawn, in a private stretch of Provence where comfort, politeness and flowers hold sway. Le Patio restaurant is on the hotel’s splendid terrace, just down from the swimming pool. Eating here, underneath the lemon trees, it is as if one were dining on a little Provençal square privatised for the privileged. Food is good, simple Med fare with no aspirations to Michelin stars. In this setting, it doesn’t need them. Read expert review From £307 per night Check availability Rates provided by Booking.com
Le Grand Hôtel Cabourg
Cabourg, Normandy, France
8Telegraph expert rating
The five-star Grand Hôtel in Cabourg is ideally located on the seaside resort’s beach, and offers a delightful gastronomic experience as well as an inspired travel through time. Dating from 1861, the Grand Hôtel was rebuilt in a Belle Epoque style at the beginning of the 20th century after completely burning down. Entering is like diving into a bygone era. The sumptuous hall with high ceilings and an impressive chandelier has inviting Epoque armchairs and sofas on which to read, relax and have a drink. One can also choose the hotel’s elegant bar, or the terrace on the beach. Read expert review From £199 per night Check availability Rates provided by Booking.com
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Grand-Hôtel du Cap-Ferrat, A Four Seasons Hotel
Saint-Jean-Cap-Ferrat, Côte d'Azur, France
9Telegraph expert rating
Opened in 1908, the Grand-Hôtel is a real jewel in the south of France's crown and since a Four Seasons takeover, benefits from the group's exceptional service standards. Club Dauphin is the hotel’s pièce de résistance; a once Olympic-sized heated infinity seawater pool so blue it seems almost to blend into the horizon when viewed from above, accessed via a funicular in luscious gardens. Once there you can enjoy spectacular views of the Mediterranean, complimentary refreshments plus free sun cream. If you want to improve your technique in the pool, book a lesson with Pierre Gruneberg, the club’s famous swimming instructor, whose pupils have included everyone from Charlie Chaplin’s children to Robin Williams. Read expert review From £1,069 per night Check availability Rates provided by Booking.com
• The best hotels in the Cote d'Azur
Villa Tri Men
Combrit, Brittany, France
8Telegraph expert rating
A no-expense-spared villa hotel, in waterfront gardens just above the beach in little Ste-Marine. The light, substantial rooms in the villa proper, all gleaming wooden floors and white-painted tongue-and-groove walls, echo the inns of New England. Several have sea-facing balconies on two separate sides, and there are larger clapboard cottages in the grounds. Excellent seafood menus in the villa’s elegant dining room, open for dinner only, and for that matter also in summer only, start at €39; the owners also run a cheaper, less formal year-round bistro in the port immediately below. Read expert review From £201 per night Check availability Rates provided by Booking.com
• The best beach hotels in Brittany
InterContinental Carlton Cannes
Cannes, Provence, France
8Telegraph expert rating
When you win the film festival’s Best Actor or Actress award, I’ll expect you to be staying at the Carlton. Liz Taylor brought all seven of her husbands here. Faye Dunaway allegedly ordered gallons of goats' milk for her bath. Today, it remains the spot which says: “You’ve arrived” when you walk through the door. Prestige suites on the seventh floor have outstanding sea-view terraces – but not all the rooms actually oversee the Med. Giving onto the Croisette, the outdoor Terrace in particular, is a fine place for a drink, if only because passers-by will wonder whether you’re famous or not. There’s no pool, but the Carlton’s private beach is just across the road. Read expert review From £306 per night Check availability Rates provided by Booking.com
Château de la Chèvre d’Or
Provence, France
9Telegraph expert rating
Few hotels are wedged between the sky and the sea. Five-star Château de la Chèvre d’Or is. Up high in the eagle nest village of Èze on the French Riviera, this luxury address is paradise on earth. The coastal panorama from the heated outdoor pool is other-worldly and the terraced grounds cocoon hidden terraces and sundecks for guests to lap up the extraordinary luminosity and colours of the French Riviera in total Adam and Eve privacy. Dining is gastronomic and Michelin-starred, with vertiginous views of the sea. For talented young chef Roman Kerverrac, local seasonal products of exceptional quality are at the heart of his light Mediterranean gastronomy, married with a staggering wine list. Read expert review From £386 per night Check availability Rates provided by Booking.com
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Hotel Le Negresco
Nice, Côte d'Azur, France
8Telegraph expert rating
Michelin-starred dining, sea views and a wealth of antique furniture make this a popular choice among European royalty and holidaying celebrities, bang on the Med in Nice, close to Place Masséna. Everyone from Khrushchev to Richard Burton has enjoyed a drink in its Le Relais bar. No other luxury hotel in France delivers a similar cultural charge. ven bad boys try to behave well in what is the last independent palace hotel on the Riviera. Almost impossible not to, in the Royal Salon with a vast portrait of Louis XIV looking on. Or in the exceptional, glass-ceilinged rotunda. Go for a room at the front for sea views. Read expert review From £350 per night Check availability Rates provided by Booking.com
Hotel de la Ponche
St Tropez, Provence, France
8Telegraph expert rating
You'll find simple elegance, charming service and spacious rooms with views over the town or sea at La Ponche, tucked into one of the older, quieter districts of St Tropez, five minutes from the port and the central Place des Lices. Picasso and Sartre were once regulars at the bar. It’s a higgeldy-piggeldy sort of building, so many rooms have unexpected terraces with views over the town or out to sea. Room number 8 was, incidentally, Romy Schneider’s favourite. And, whichever room you take, you are but yards from the little Ponche beach. You might very well wander out there in your dressing gown for a dip before breakfast. Read expert review From £351 per night Check availability Rates provided by Booking.com
Rural
La Bastide de Gordes
Gordes, Provence, France
9Telegraph expert rating
Gordes, the most spectacular of the Luberon's perched villages, probably required an ultra-spiffing hotel. After an £18 million rip-out-and-rebuild refurb, this is it. On the terraces, besides the outstanding valley view, there's a pool for families and, on the level below, a longer item for determined swimmers. Mineral, grey-green Med gardens run the length of the terraces, affording a week's worth of nooks and crannies. There's also a Sisley spa. Pierre Gagnaire's gastronomic restaurant is aiming for the (Michelin) stars. Along the terrace, the Citadelle second restaurant has a Bible-length wine list and mains like tuna on ratatouille. The views will be the most arresting you've had during dinner for a while. Read expert review From £503 per night Check availability Rates provided by Booking.com
Les Sources de Caudalie
Léognan, Aquitaine, France
9Telegraph expert rating
From the inventors of vinotherapy, this brilliant wine-inspired spa and chic country hotel, set by a lake in the Bordeaux vineyards, combines grape-based treatments with its own natural spring and a gourmet restaurant from a rising star of French cuisine. There are peaceful gardens around the lake, with tranquil swans, and modern sculptures dotted around the adjacent Smith Haut Lafitte vineyards, including a Jim Dine Venus and a Barry Flanagan hare. As well as the spa, there's an outdoor pool, a new separate indoor pool, with glass roof that can be opened in fine weather, gym, bikes to borrow and tracks for jogging round the woods. Read expert review From £287 per night Check availability Rates provided by Booking.com
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Château de la Treyne
Aquitaine, France
9Telegraph expert rating
With an unbelievably magical setting, this turreted fairytale chateau is the belle of the ball. It has history, it has drama, it has magnificent views of the Dordogne River – and that is only the beginning. Handsome period rooms, a Michelin-starred restaurant and exquisite service ensure a happy ending every time. The hotel has a heated infinity pool, tennis court, Romanesque chapel and beautiful garden with century-old cedar trees. But what really stands out is the overwhelming graciousness, passion and enthusiasm of charismatic owner Stéphanie (an expert at crafting bespoke tourist itineraries for her guests) and her dedicated team. Summer dining is on a candlelit terrace overlooking the river. Read expert review From £140 per night
• The best hotels in the Dordogne
Château St Pierre de Serjac
Puissalicon, Languedoc-Roussillon, France
9Telegraph expert rating
After a €25-million revamp by winemaker Laurent Bonfils and hoteliers Karl and Anita O’Hanlon, this 200-acre Languedoc wine estate works as well as for romance as it does for breaks with family or friends. The 19th-century chateau has eight splendid rooms, plus 36 stylish self-catering residences. It is is surrounded by balm-for-the-eyes countryside. Mediterranean, river and lake beaches are all half an hour's drive away. A poolside terrace fit for a modern-day F Scott Fitzgerald fronts the house. There’s also a restaurant, bar, working winery, spa, tennis courts and bikes to explore the estate. Read expert review From £145 per night Check availability Rates provided by Booking.com
• The best hotels in Languedoc
Domaine des Hauts de Loire
Onzain, Pays de la Loire, France
9Telegraph expert rating
Meet the ultimate Loire Valley getaway, a luxurious hotel-restaurant in an ivy-draped hunting lodge deep in the forest. Lakes, farm animals and hiking trails lend the family-friendly estate countryside romance and chef Rémy Giraud has two Michelin stars for his dazzling modern Loire cuisine. Facilities include an outdoor pool, table-tennis table, tennis courts, lake fishing (bring your own rod), boules and marked forest walking/biking trails (the hotel provides bicycles). There is also a cookery school, helipad and the hotel can organise hot-air balloon rides. Read expert review From £356 per night Check availability Rates provided by Booking.com
• The best hotels in the Loire Valley
Hôtel Clos Marcel
Lake Annecy, Rhône-Alpes, France
8Telegraph expert rating
Few Lake Annecy addresses are really and truly ‘pieds dans l’eau’ or have their ‘feet in the water’ as the French put it so eloquently. This discreet hotel, near the medieval village of Duingt on the lake’s western shore, is a magnificent exception. Intimate lounge areas spoil guests with lavishly cushioned sofas and floor-to-ceiling lake views. Hot orange sun beds lounge on the lawn in the well-kempt garden, overlooked by a sauna and bubbling Scandinavian hot tub, accessible year round. A private beach and pontoon complete the stylish ensemble. All 14 rooms are cleverly designed to maximise space and venerate the lake panorama that all but two rooms have. Those on the ground floor open onto the garden; those on the first floor have balconies. Read expert review From £178 per night Check availability Rates provided by Booking.com
• The best hotels on Lake Annecy
La Coquillade
Gargas, Provence, France
9Telegraph expert rating
Few addresses cocoon guests in the peace, tranquillity and perfumed lavender fields of Provence like this glamorous golden hamlet in the Luberon hills. Don’t be deceived by the size of 63-room Coquillade Village: the spacious estate is so well-designed that you really do feel romantically alone in your very own posh cottage straight off a Provence postcard. Facilities include a heliport, tennis courts, two swimming pools, table tennis, table football and pétanque, not to mention 36 hectares of vineyards and winery. The state-of-the-art spa is truly outstanding, as is the BMC Cycling Centre, which rents top-of-the-range mountain and road bikes. Every room has its own veranda, garden or, in the case of the dazzling junior suites, roof terrace. Read expert review From £331 per night Check availability Rates provided by Booking.com
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Le Saint-James
Bouliac, Bordeaux, France
8Telegraph expert rating
High on a hill with a memorable view over Bordeaux, this 'hôtel d’architecte' is a destination in its own right. The architect is the world-famous Jean Nouvel, and his striking conception houses 18 rooms, all individually furnished, and a Michelin-starred restaurant. The building is covered in an attractive, weathered iron latticework (it raises electronically) that recalls the traditional tobacco barns of the region. It’s all part of Nouvel’s approach, mixing cosy opulence with design touches that verge on theindustrial. Nouvel saw to every detail – even the height of the beds – each one is designed differently so you’ll catch the view just right when you awaken. There’s a heated 25-metre pool, and you can arrange golf and tennis nearby, as well as wine touring. Read expert review From £230 per night Check availability Rates provided by Booking.com
Châteaux dans les Arbres
Dordogne, France
8Telegraph expert rating
Chambres d’hôte in France have just become even more sensational with these fanciful tree houses modelled on Dordogne chateaux. Luxurious interiors, staggering countryside views and a soul-piercing tranquillity is what Castles in the Trees translates as. Both smaller treehouses have a hot tub on the terrace. The abundance of country air clearly induces lazy mornings. Breakfast – organic fruit juice, jam, yoghurt, bread and warm croissants – is served from 9am, arriving in a wicker basket hooked to a pulley that guests tug up. It's in the sticks amid 25 acres of forest, meadow and grazing donkeys, nine miles west of Montpazier in the lower Dordogne. Read expert review From £166 per night
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Le Vieux Castillon
Castillon-du-Gard, Languedoc-Roussillon, France
9Telegraph expert rating
Few addresses insist on guests embracing the peace, tranquillity and art de vivre of France’s hot south quite like this luxurious countryside property, cocooned in a golden blaze of medieval-to-Renaissance houses. It really is impossible not to kick back and Zen out, pastis or rosé in hand, at this bucolic hideaway wrapped around patio gardens and terraces perfumed with lemon, olive, fig and cypress trees. Nature is queen, with sweeping vineyard and Mont Ventoux views from the sophisticated pool area playing out their part to postcard perfection. Reception can arrange bags of fun outdoor activities including wine-tasting and moonlight canoe picnics beneath Pont du Gard. Read expert review From £171 per night Check availability Rates provided by Booking.com
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Château de Verrières
Saumur, Pays de la Loire, France
8Telegraph expert rating
For an authentic taste of château life, five-star Château de Verrières in downtown Saumur is the address. Its impressive 19th-century interior is a mirror reflection of the glamorous Belle Époque and ornate rooms are hardcore French aristocracy. A wooded English park crowns the historic ensemble. The outdoor pool, with shower and changing cabins, is heated (open May to September) and walking paths lace the wooded grounds. On a reasonably quiet road in town, with a tree- and bamboo-laced park stretching for five acres behind the château. The Loire River, lorded over by Saumur’s 13th-century château, is a 20-minute walk away. Read expert review From £205 per night Check availability Rates provided by Booking.com
• The best hotels in the Loire Valley
Yoann Conte
Lake Annecy, French Alps, France
8Telegraph expert rating
Possibly the most luxurious address on Lake Annecy, this five-star Relais & Châteaux hotel languishes on the lake’s eastern shore, a pebble throw from Annecy. Eight boutique rooms evoke a cosy, uber-stylish Alpine chalet and haute-cuisine dining is an exquisite gastronomic ode to the beauty of nature. A rustic hot tub, hammock and barrel-shaped sauna all gaze out across the water, while boats moor at a private pontoon. There is water skiing, wake boarding and stand-up paddle boarding on site, and guests can borrow bicycles to tour the lake. Should you do this, make sure to request a gourmet picnic from the chef before setting out. Read expert review From £515 per night Check availability Rates provided by Booking.com
Terre Blanche
Tourrettes, Provence, France
9Telegraph expert rating
From a French aristocrat to Bond-actor Sean Connery, this hotel has passed through many illustrious hands. The current owner Dietmar Hopp has adorned the immaculately landscaped grounds with modern sculptures from his own private collection. The interior décor is Provence-meets-designer-chic with an ochre palette and dramatic architectural features such as the pillar-lined spa pool. The mini-villa accommodation brings boutique-hotel intimacy, yet the resort is surprisingly large with 115 suites and villas. While the 35,000 square foot spa offers everything from Carita facials to bubble beds and a hair salon. Golf is high on the agenda with two 18-hole golf courses and a David Leadbetter golf-training academy. Read expert review From £569 per night Check availability Rates provided by Booking.com
Les Prés d'Eugénie
Eugénie-les-Bains, Aquitaine, France
9Telegraph expert rating
A temple to fine living, this spa hotel on a country estate in southwest France is a once-in-a-lifetime must. Triple Michelin-starred chef Michel Guérard caters to hedonists and uber-healthy gourmets alike, rooms are bejeweled with the family art collection and the spa is heaven on earth. The hotel has a heated outdoor pool, cookery school and bikes to borrow. But the heart-stealer is the luxurious Ferme Thermale spa sourced from Eugénie’s hot thermal springs. To stay here and not soak in a citrus milk bath, or the spa’s signature silky white mud, would be a crime. Chef Michel Guérard has had three Michelin stars for almost 40 years and his gastronomic menu (£108/€130) includes wine from Michel’s very own chateau, four miles from the hotel. Read expert review From £216 per night
Château Saint-Martin & Spa
Vence, Provence, France
9Telegraph expert rating
No-holds-barred elegance since the 12th century. Elegantly marooned above the Riviera’s hoi polloi but within striking distance of Nice, Antibes and Cannes. Coastal day-trippers drive up for refined lunches, which are best slept off alongside the chateau’s mirror-calm infinity pool. Staff truly know their onions, from the voiturier (who will show you a shortcut to Matisse’s final masterpiece, the nearby Chapelle du Rosaire) to the masseurs (who will offer up an informal health check in a pine-scented cabana). The hotel is a five-minute drive from the historic centre of Vence. Art-filled sister village St-Paul-de-Vence is five miles (7km) away. The Miros, Chagalls and Giacomettis in the Fondation Maeght are a must-see en route. The twinkling Med is a 30-minute motor downhill. Read expert review From £557 per night Check availability Rates provided by Booking.com
• The best hotels on the Cote d'Azur
Château des Vigiers
Dordogne, France
8Telegraph expert rating
Gourmets, golfers and nature-lovers seeking to get away from it all will be smitten by this grandiose château hotel. It's on its very own 150-hectare estate fringed with chestnut woods, oak forest, fruit orchards and vineyards. Guests are spoilt for choice with Michelin-starred gastronomic restaurant Les Fresques and more casual brasserie Le Chai. Both have idyllic summer terraces for al fresco dining, Le Chai with magnificent sunset views. The outdoor pool is open May to September, and the estate spa – set to be completely rebuilt in 2018 – has a sauna, steam room and treatment cabins. Undoubtedly the big highlight is the 27-hole golf course wrapped around two lakes, plum orchard and 17th-century dovecot. Read expert review From £144 per night Check availability Rates provided by Booking.com
• The best hotels in the Dordogne
Château d’Artigny
Montbazon, Pays de la Loire, France
9Telegraph expert rating
Chateau d'Artignt sits at the top of a wooded hill with the magnificent sweep of the Indre River at its feet. The chateau was built between 1912 and 1929 for wealthy French nez (‘nose’ or perfumier), François Coty, who ripped down the existent manor house to create a mirror image of 18th-century Château de Champlâteux, north of Paris. Versailles inspired the interior. Reception staff arrange everything from chateaux tickets to hot-air balloon rides. The heated outdoor pool and tennis courts are open May to September. There are bicycles, a boules pitch, manicured gardens and 60 acres of woods. The hotel spa – in the chapel – has an indoor pool with sauna, Turkish bath, whirlpool and hammam. Read expert review From £147 per night Check availability Rates provided by Booking.com
Le Domaine d'Auriac
Carcassonne, Languedoc-Roussillon, France
8Telegraph expert rating
This family-run country house hotel – set in a 19th-century building in almost 100 acres of grounds – oozes grandeur without a hint of stuffiness. Staying here feels almost like visiting a benevolent rich relative’s home – except with a golf course and Michelin-starred restaurant on site too. There’s a large outdoor (unheated) pool and a tennis court, plus an 18-hole golf course. It's around a five-minute drive from the medieval city of Carcassonne (you will probably want a car). Considering its closeness to the city, it’s pretty tranquil in spite of a busy road behind the ancient trees and walls of the 300-year-old grounds. There are also plenty of vineyards to explore nearby. Read expert review From £243 per night Check availability Rates provided by Booking.com
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Château de Mercuès
Mercuès, Lot, France
8Telegraph expert rating
This winemaker’s hotel – a 13th-century castle later rebuilt as a pleasure palace with vineyards for the bishops of Cahors – treats guests to the very best of French art de vivre: fine wine, gastronomic dining, noble rooms and sweeping Lot Valley views from its awe-inspiring perch. Wine is the big draw: six metres deep beneath the château barrels of AOC Cahors age. Guests can tour the chai (wine cellar) and taste/buy wine in the boutique. The outdoor pool and children’s paddling pool is open May to September. There is a synthetic grass tennis court and beautiful gardens to explore. Beehives and walking trails lace the surrounding forest; reception lends guests bicycles. Read expert review From £214 per night Check availability Rates provided by Booking.com
Château de Mazan
Mazan, Provence, France
9Telegraph expert rating
Ladies and gentlemen who appreciate village calm, non-standard luxury and a certain indirect raunchiness (this was the family home of the Marquis de Sade) will love this family-run, honey-toned château. Classical portraits hang near Indian textiles and drapes, African art crops up in the least expected places and, in the corridor, there’s a life-sized mannequin of crooner Charles Trenet. Flowers are ubiquitous. This is décor you discover with delight, and warm to quickly. Beyond, a fine terrace overlooks gardens of mature trees and a nicely hidden pool. Once arrived, in short, you’re not going to want to leave. Read expert review From £126 per night Check availability Rates provided by Booking.com
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Le Moulin du Roc
Champagnac-de-Belair, Aquitaine, France
8Telegraph expert rating
Le Moulin du Roc offers four-star French heaven in the most handsome mill and trout-serenaded brook you could imagine. Alain Gardillou, a chef, has been its heart and soul since 1969 when he opened a small bar and restaurant, and later rooms, in the old stone mill where the region’s famous walnuts were pressed for oil. Foie gras, lamb, mushrooms, Périgord truffles and strawberries are among the local seasonal products exalted in the hotel restaurant, which has had one Michelin star since 1979. The 15 rooms slumber peacefully beneath beams and exposed stone in three buildings. Some rooms have private terrace overlooking the river, pristine green lawns and pool beyond. Read expert review From £216 per night Check availability Rates provided by Booking.com
Chateau de Chantore
Bacilly, Normandy, France
9Telegraph expert rating
Here's a showstopper of a place, an outpost of elegance in greenest Normandy. The country château rises, brick and dressed stone, amid grounds of epic tranquility. Outside, the grounds are suitable for swans and horses, gambolling and contemplation. Inside, the young owners show that they master 18th-century décor and atmosphere — mirrors, portraits, gilt — without it becoming oppressive. The majestic Mont St Michel is visible through the trees and across the bay. It's all here at breakfast — cheese, charcuterie, breads, viennoiseries, jams, the lot. And served with ancien régime panache. Read expert review From £180 per night Check availability Rates provided by Booking.com
La Chartreuse du Bignac
Saint-Nexans, Aquitaine, France
9Telegraph expert rating
This 17th-century manor squirreled away in splendid isolation ticks all the boxes for perfect weekend away. Plunge in the pool amid a 360° panorama of rolling hills, potter on the lake in a rowing boat, sip cocktails by the fire and revel in the natural art de vivre. In summer organic breakfasts are taken beneath fruit trees, while gastronomic dinners are served on a lovely torch-lit terrace. Each of the 12 spacious rooms and one suite are different. Only three have televisions and for complete digital disconnect, book the mill house by the lake – it has no Wi-Fi and a part-transparent floor lets you ponder the natural spring gushing beneath. Read expert review From £157 per night Check availability Rates provided by Booking.com
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Domaine de Verchant
Castelnau-le-Lez, Languedoc-Roussillon, France
8Telegraph expert rating
Domaine de Verchant is a wine-growing country estate with a 16th-century orangery, centurion park and vineyards in France’s hot southwest. Designer rooms are contemporary and beautiful; dining can be gastronomic or bistro; and the infinity pool and spa overlooking the vines is the ultimate in French seduction. An edgy beach bar amid vines brings it right up into the 21st century. Alongside the spa, tennis courts, a heated swimming pool, bicycles to borrow and a serious gym with personal trainer and fitness classes top off the wellbeing ensemble. Deluxe rooms seduce with a bijou handkerchief garden or terrace, strung with jasmine and other lush, sweetly scented Mediterranean flora. Read expert review From £386 per night Check availability Rates provided by Booking.com
Chateau de Lalande
Annesse-et-Beaulieu, Aquitaine, France
9Telegraph expert rating
Live the French dream at this creamy stone chateau with smoky-blue shutters, traditional, pitched roof, and pea-green vines that have been around far longer than you or I. Lalande is a flawless blend of period grandeur and modern-day intimacy. Public areas mirror a private home – no formal reception and books in the Grand Salon to make it feel reassuringly lived in. Yet features like the pool, wisteria-festooned terrace and contemporary outdoor sculptures ensure guests feel spoilt. The restaurant opens every evening from April to October, and also throws together a mean picnic hamper. Read expert review From £132 per night Check availability Rates provided by Booking.com
Islands
Casadelmar
Porto-Vecchio, Corsica, France
8Telegraph expert rating
Casadelmar has a spacious, layered design that makes the most of its waterside location. Gardens filled with olive, fig and palm trees add a natural calm while startling artworks and photography bring a modern zest to the public areas. There is an attractive heated infinity pool framed with gardens and a four-room spa featuring ESPA treatments and beauty products, including a signature massage using warm oils scented with Corsican herbs. Optional activities including waterskiing and hiring the hotel's 18m motor yacht. Two Michelin-starred Casadelmar is an elegant dinner-only affair run by Italian chef Fabio Bragagnolo with a Mediterranean menu, while the waterfront Grill and Lounge Bar serves everything from sushi and bento boxes to wagyu beef steaks. Read expert review From £854 per night Check availability Rates provided by Booking.com
Monte-Carlo Beach
Monte Carlo, Monaco
9Telegraph expert rating
The Monte-Carlo Beach arcs around the Cap Martin coastline, sheltered amidst umbrella pines atop a rocky promontory in the French village of Roquebrune-Cap- Martin towards the Monaco border. Show-offs arrive by boat to this ultra-luxurious Art Deco hotel's private jetty, and golden-heeled guests dine upon Michelin-starred cuisine after a day by the Olympic-sized pool or private beach. Watersports fanatics with everything from parasailing to FlyFish rafting. Lunchtime venues include the chic, poolside Le Deck restaurant serving salads, meats and fish or the more informal, beachside La Pizzeria serving Monaco’s tastiest organic focaccia and pizza. Read expert review From £868 per night Check availability Rates provided by Booking.com
Le Mas du Langoustier
Porquerolles, Provence, France
8Telegraph expert rating
It's impossible to separate the Mas from its setting. Gardens and courtyard overcome with horticulture cede to garrigue and forest rich with the smoky aromas of pine, eucalyptus and herbs. There’s a pool and tennis court in there somewhere. And then you’re on the rocks, overlooking a creek and beach which, though not private, feels that way. The different blues of the sea are as clearly defined as colours on a flag and, over on the wooded headland, stand the remains of a fortress. Back at the hotel, you’ll note ochre façades overcome with bougainvillaea. The Olivier Restaurant bagged a Michelin star for its inventive take on Mediterranean cooking. Read expert review From £173 per night
Hôtel Hermitage
Monte Carlo, Monaco
9Telegraph expert rating
This Belle Epoque palace, the discreet sibling to neighbouring Hôtel de Paris, is a favourite for jetsetting cognoscenti and celebrities pretending to stay under the radar. A line of Lamborghinis and Bentleys greet you at the entrance, but what else would you expect in Monte-Carlo? Down a secret underground passage, the thermal spa impresses with treatments that are so state-of-the-art that you might not have heard of them – if in doubt just lie on the sundeck admiring the harbour views. A free shuttle will also whisk you to a private beach club with watersports. The best-value rooms in the hotel are the Deluxe Sea View Rooms, which have gorgeous views, but you’ll have to book well in advance. Read expert review From £631 per night Check availability Rates provided by Booking.com
City
Hotel Molitor Paris
Paris, France
7Telegraph expert rating
The Molitor is as close as you get to a resort hotel in Paris: the legendary Art Deco swimming pool was reborn as a hotel and sports club after 20 years of abandon. The pool is a vision with its mustard yellow facade, white balustrades and tiers of changing cubicles, a place where celebrities once sunbathed on the decks, where generations of schoolkids learned to swim (the indoor pool will continue to be used by three local schools) and the bikini was launched in 1946. It's a place for sports fans - Roland Garros tennis courts, Parc des Princes and Jean Bouin stadiums and Autueil racetrack are all virtually next door and the expanses of the Bois de Boulogne just beyond. Read expert review From £223 per night Check availability Rates provided by Booking.com
• The most romantic hotels in Paris
Villa Florentine
Lyon, Rhône-Alpes, France
9Telegraph expert rating
Peace and tranquility are not hard to find at Villa Florentine, an old-world luxury retreat in a trio of chic Italianate Renaissance houses in the hilltop 'hood of Fourvière. Views are panoramic; the outdoor pool and spa, glorious; and romantic Michelin-starred dining is the icing on the cake. Chirping birds is the most noise you hear in the morning when you fling open your windows to better embrace the sensational city views and invigorating ‘country air’. Nothing beats the panoramic outdoor pool, heated to a toasty 29 degrees Celsius and open year-round – a hot tub, sauna and twinset of heated black-marble chaise-longues complete the idyllic rooftop relaxation area. Read expert review From £225 per night Check availability Rates provided by Booking.com
Le Petit Nice - Passedat
Marseille, Côte d'Azur, France
8Telegraph expert rating
A villa-like hotel with an air of sophisticated decadence in Marseille, on a rocky promontory – almost a bridge-head into the Med which starts where the hotel terrace stops. Land-side, the hotel is surrounded by a quiet residential zone half-way between the beaches and the city centre, two miles away. Gérald Passédat’s restaurant is one of the main reasons people with well-cushioned bank accounts show up at Le Petit Nice. The only three-Michelin-star establishment in town, it’s by some way the most inventive – and priciest – on this stretch of coast. There’s nowhere more serene to have a drink than on the terrace bar, with sea about six inches away. This is the seaside for sybarites. Read expert review From £270 per night Check availability Rates provided by Booking.com
• The best hotels in Marseille
OFF Paris Seine
Paris, France
8Telegraph expert rating
The innovative Elegancia hotel group behind Paris’s first boat hotel has created a floating cocoon where guests can disconnect from urban life. With its beachy lounge bar – fast becoming a hot spot for sundowners among trendy Parisians – and laidback vibe, this is an address where guests kick off their shoes, dip their toes in the water and relax on a shimmering golden Fatboy with ethereal Seine views. The beauty of waking up to a water view and Parisian péniches sailing by is likewise undeniable. Rive Gauche rooms overlook the quay and Rive Droite rooms face the river. Notre Dame Cathedral and Sainte Chapelle are a delightful 15-minute riverside stroll west. Read expert review From £116 per night Check availability Rates provided by Booking.com
• The best boutique hotels in Paris
La Course
Bordeaux, Aquitaine, France
8Telegraph expert rating
La Course is in a quiet street seconds from Bordeaux's Jardin Public. The graceful quays of the Garonne are two minutes away, and ritzy restaurants serving Atlantic fruits de mer and agneau de Pauillac lamb are a 15-minute walk away . The hotel’s free-to-use retro bicycles make short work of Bordeaux’s cycle-friendly streets. Facilities include a summer terrace plus a hammam. The Manon de les Etoiles suite boasts a private rooftop pool plus a conservatory roof that can be unshuttered at the flick of a button to reveal the night sky. Read expert review From £172 per night Check availability Rates provided by Booking.com
La Mirande
Avignon, Provence, France
8Telegraph expert rating
La Mirande was once a 14th-century cardinal’s palace that adjoins the Palais des Papes, one of the finest medieval residences in all Europe. Centuries of decorative art deck the halls – from 18th-century Chinoiserie to the contemporary lounge chairs, which were snapped up from the Musée d’Orsay in Paris. Every lamp, bathtub and square of Mauny block-printed wallpaper has been sourced from specialist art dealers. The walled garden is a private heaven in the sun-drenched summer months. Like the hotel itself, the restaurant harbours French tradition. Award-winning head chef Jean-Claude Aubertin personally meets with local organic growers and is a leading proponent of biodynamic wines. Read expert review From £436 per night Check availability Rates provided by Booking.com
Shangri-La Hotel, Paris
Paris, France
8Telegraph expert rating
Originally the private mansion of Roland Bonaparte, eccentric botanist and great-nephew of Napoleon, the 101 suites and bedrooms evoke a grand classical lifestyle, some with balconies from which you can almost touch the Eiffel Tower across the river. The hotel also has a luxurious health club providing Carita beauty treatments and a stunning day-lit swimming pool in what was once the stable block. Room layouts all vary: some are duplexes, some have large bathroom windows, others have small corridors and still have the feel of private flats, the best have large rooftop terraces with astonishing views of the Eiffel Tower. Read expert review From £599 per night Check availability Rates provided by Booking.com
• The best Paris hotels near the Champs Élysées
Sofitel Marseille Vieux Port
Marseille, Côte d'Azur, France
9Telegraph expert rating
The hotel is at the entry to the Port – the views are arresting – and the city centre but a 10 minute walk back along the waterfront. the top floor Les Trois Forts restaurant serves splendidly worked Mediterranean fare with all Marseille’s sea-going splendour beyond the big windows. Facilities include an outdoor pool and excellent spa and fitness facilities. Some 134 of them, and all large enough and pleasantly contemporary of design – in a muted maritime sort of way. Read expert review From £169 per night Check availability Rates provided by Booking.com
