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Hotels
Our favorite charming hotels in France
Would you like to escape for a few days and immerse yourself in a bubble of serenity or visit a few museums? By the sea or in the mountains, in town or in the country, Yonder Society recommends charming hotels that will seduce you.
Castel Marie-Louise | Charming hotel with timeless elegance by the sea
A Relais & Châteaux member, this 19th-century manor house, decorated by Jacques Garcia, nestles in the heart of the Bay of La Baule, between sea and pine forest. This charming Belle Époque hotel, surrounded by a vast flower-filled garden, embodies discreet refinement and the French art of living. With its 31 elegantly decorated rooms and suites - featuring dark wood panelling, silky fabrics and soothing hues - the Castel Marie-Louise transports guests into a hushed atmosphere. The rooms, some with private balconies, offer a breathtaking view of the ocean or the hundred-year-old pines, perfect for a gentle wake-up call. Room service breakfast is even more bucolic.
Chef Jérémy Coirier's restaurant makes the most of local produce, with an inventive menu where the sea meets the land. After a day's cycling along the wild coast or a round of golf on one of the prestigious courses nearby, the cosy lounge with its fireplace invites you to enjoy a cup of tea or a glass of wine. The impeccable service, a true Barrière signature, is distinguished by attention to the smallest detail: concierge service, bicycles at your disposal and access to a private beach just a few steps away.
Le Castel Marie-Louise
31 keys, from €290 per night
1 avenue Andrieu, 44500 La Baule-Escoublac
Tetras Lodge | Charming hotel in the Alps
Tignes Les Brévières is an area at 1550 altitude that exudes authenticity and calm. The ideal refuge for the Tetras Lodge chalet hotel. This carefully renovated former barn offers 23 rooms, including 3 suites, all with balcony. River and mountain views for relaxation, or village views for entertainment. Rest assured, you'll enjoy the peace and quiet you'll find here, in an elegant, modern atmosphere where wood marries beautifully with the duck blue of the curtains or the mustard yellow of this armchair. All the comforts you'd expect from a 4-star hotel are on hand: excellent bedding, minibar and courtesy tray. A ground-floor restaurant serves a hearty buffet breakfast and half-board dinners.
The notion of service at this Les Étincelles hotel in the Alps is not overstated: in addition to the attentive welcome, your rental skis will be delivered directly to your door if you wish; and as the slopes are just 400 m away, a driver will take you to the bottom of the lifts in the morning: the superb Tignes-Val d'Isère ski area is yours for the taking. On your return, the cosy lounge is the perfect place for a hot chocolate or mulled wine. Just before enjoying the triptych of hammam, sauna and whirlpool. The latter, installed on the terrace, awaits the most courageous. The reward is in the panorama: the view of the mountains from this mountain spa hotel is simply superb.
Tetras Lodge
23 keys, from €232 per night, minimum stay 3 nights
74 chemin de la plage, 73320 Tignes les Brévières
Hameau des Baux | Art in nature
One rarely tires of the South in this charming hotel. All the more so when you think of a 5-hectare olive grove, a Provençal mas and the charm of a village. This is what the Hameau des Baux has to offer, superbly restored, lovingly maintained and divinely decorated. Aurélie Blanquart and Guillaume Multrier, founders of the Beyond Places hotel operator, are responsible for this charming Alpilles address and the Petites Maisons concept, which combines art, good food and well-being. A square with plane trees and a fountain, and these mazets that house 21 rooms and suites ranging from 35 to 65m2: whitewashed walls, wooden beams, weathered floor tiles and vintage furniture. It's all there. With an added touch: it's thanks to Constance Breton, artistic director and curator, that contemporary art has infiltrated this 5-star hotel.
And even when the pool goes to sleep in winter, it's easy to slip into the intimate, refined atmosphere. We stroll through the park to find a few sculptures, linger in the gallery to admire a painting and browse in the lobby bookshop for new reading material. Just before gathering, for two or as a tribe, around Julie Chaix's bistronomic cuisine. Don't let her youth fool you: she's worked with Anne-Sophie Pic and Alain Ducasse. You'll taste only seasonal and local produce, as the chef is uncompromising about sourcing. So, yes, the cuisine smells of the Mediterranean, sometimes revisited like this wheat bulgur risotto titillated by artichokes. A real treat!
Le Hameau des Baux
21 keys from €308 per night
285, Chemin de Bourgeac, 13520 Paradou
Le Chambard | Double starred, in all simplicity
Kayserberg is a small, typically Alsatian village, one of the most beautiful in France and a must-see on the Alsace wine route. Cobbled streets and, among the venerable half-timbered houses, the blushing façade of a beautiful 18th-century residence: this is where Olivier Nasti, his brother Emmanuel and his wife Patricia have established, over the years, one of the region's most prestigious addresses. Bourgeois yet unpretentious, this five-star hotel-restaurant is a family-run establishment with a particularly friendly spirit. In terms of accommodation, 33 rooms feature contemporary design, light parquet flooring and soft tones; luxurious and spacious as befits this Relais & Châteaux member. Enjoy the indoor pool, sauna, hammam and jacuzzi, or the benefits of a massage at this charming hotel in Alsace.
A century-old beam, custom-made furniture crafted by local artisans, wood is omnipresent at La Table d'Olivier Nasti. Because, of course, if you're staying here, it's first and foremost to savour the formidable cuisine of this chef with two Michelin macaroons. He's also a MOF. As a hunter and fisherman, he's one of the few chefs to sublimate game. His dishes? An invitation to savor the best of his terroir, transcended by impeccable cooking and lifted by sauces as tasty as they are balanced. The ballet in the kitchen can be admired through the large bay windows. The chef also designs the menu for his Winstub. The Chambard is also home to this traditional Alsatian inn, where you'll feel warmed up as soon as you get home, and you'll appreciate the quality of the buffet right through to breakfast: cold meats, kouglof, cheeses and jams: everything is Alsatian.
Le Chambard
33 keys from €315 per night
9-13 rue du Général de Gaulle, 68240 Kaysersberg
Le Donjon - Domaine Saint Clair | A charming perched hotel
From the top of its hill, this Anglo-Norman-style residence is sure to impress. Erected in 1862 on Roman remains, Le Donjon - Domaine Saint Clair seems to watch over the famous cliffs of Étretat, but also over this beautifully wooded park. Vast though it may seem, this 4-star Normandy hotel houses just 25 rooms and suites, spread between the Villa, the Donjon and the Cottage. As cozy as they are cozy, each of these rooms has its own dreamlike, colorful or eccentric decor, and each borrows from the celebrity whose name it bears, from Gustave Flaubert to Claude Monet to Pierre Loti, promising a view of the valley, the sea or the garden. A few steps separate you from the Donjon, the gourmet restaurant. A large-scale fresco by Jean-Charles de Castelbajac, windows opening generously onto the cliffs.
In the Cottage, the Restaurant Racines welcomes Senda David Waguena. Here again, surprising and surprising flavors await you. This new chef, originally from Togo, grew up in his family's kitchen, spent some time in Italy, and developed his curiosity for Japanese flavors to sharpen his creativity. Take the time for a Thémaé treatment at the spa, or detox in the sauna and canopy of the rooftop. If you're looking for a romantic getaway, you can even take it private.
Le Donjon - Domaine Saint Clair
25 keys from €90 per night
Chemin de Saint Clair, 76790 Étretat
Le Mondrian Bordeaux | Starck's poetry
Bordeaux stone for a 19th-century façade, a wrought-iron gate, columns and this glass marquee. The door? Glass and steel. And these Japanese lanterns slipped into august wrought-iron lamps. It took all the ingenuity of Philippe Starck to transcend these former wine cellars in the heart of the Chartrons district. If you hear raw concrete, you'll say, where's the charm! And yet... It's the restaurant that reveals itself first, with its bricks, concrete and furniture designed by the famous architect. From this robata, too, you can contemplate the kitchens run by renowned Japanese chef Masaharu Morimoto. A backlit wall, all alcoves, outlines a bar with signature sake-based cocktails, in keeping with the Franco-Japanese fusion of decor and stoves.
The Bordeaux spa hotel also boasts a swimming pool, Codage treatments for adults and Nougatine Paris for children, and 97 rooms and suites on three floors. More concrete, poured from the ground up, and yet such a warm, intimate atmosphere. Parquet flooring, thick carpeting, sophisticated lighting, mirrors and noble materials, from leather to wood to brass. Authentic colors, delicate clean lines. There's an undeniable poetic quality here.
Mondrian Bordeaux Les Carmes
97 keys, from €288 per night
81, cours du Médoc, 33300 Bordeaux
All locations are independently selected by our specialist journalists. If you make a reservation, we may receive an affiliate commission.