France

Exclusive guide to the best holiday destinations in France, independent reviews from award-winning travel writers

Hotel Shangri-La Paris

22/06/2016 by .
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In a city awash with five-star hotels, a new entry with a slightly off-centre location needs an irresistible proposition to draw the well-heeled.   Napoleon is not a bad name to throw around, nor is having the Eiffel Tower on your doorstep, like the Hotel Shangri-La Paris.

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Villa Rose Boutique Hotel

02/02/2016 by .
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The good people of Samoens, a charming little village tucked away in France’s alpine Savoie Mont Blanc region, have been doing daily life the same way for centuries, whether it be stonemasonry, cheese making  or skiing. So when the local taxi driver is at a lost to find Villa Rose, the town’s new luxury boutique hotel,  I’m not really surprised. New things clearly take a while to register here in Samoens.

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PLAZA ATHENEE

26/01/2016 by .
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Eat your heart out, stylish boutique hotels of Paris – the fashionistas are still going for the resolutely period decor of the eternally glamorous Plaza Athenee.   For a start, it’s right in their territory on the avenue Montaigne, close to Dior, Louis Vuitton and Valentino, and for another thing, they are used to divas and fulfilling their every demand.   For me, they found a Nespresso machine so I could brew up in 30 seconds on the day I needed to leave my fabulous room at 5am, and tracked down the Left Bank butcher from whom I needed to buy a Bresse chicken to take home.

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L’Hotel Du Chateau. Carcassonne

26/01/2016 by .

Les Bains

25/01/2016 by .
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An 1885 bathhouse off a charmless Paris boulevard may seem an unlikely vehicle for one of the city’s most desirable boutique hotels. But Johnny Depp and his cohorts have pulling power, and the too cool for school crowd cavorted for years in the basement of Les Bains when it was a hip nightclub.

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Hotel Le Saint James. Bordeaux

30/04/2015 by .
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The view of The Garonne river from my bedroom window is spectacular, no question. Particularly as it is framed by the vines in the foreground from Hotel Le Saint James own vineyard. But in all fairness, even that charming montage is surpassed by the sight of the full size Harley-Davidson standing like a silent sentinel next to my bed.

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Hotel Belles Rives. Juan-les-Pins

18/07/2013This entry was posted in Europe and Middle East, France, Hotel Reviews, South of France and tagged , on by .
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It’s 90 years since Cole Porter and F. Scott Fitzgerald took homes on the Cap d’Antibes, raised hell with their Hollywood friends and persuaded the glitterati the Côte d’Azur was the place to party in the summer.

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