This haute farmhouse conversion provides all the trailing
grape vines, pétanque and creaky, rustic beams you’d expect from
one located slap bang in the middle of Provence. Specifically, it’s in the Alpilles
mountain range, not that you’ll need reminding. From wherever you
choose to recline – by the pool, amid the extensive gardens or in
the dusky lounge – you’ll catch a glimpse of these gorgeous,
gorse-strewn crags.

“The new noble” is the Hotel Château du Grand-Lucé’s tagline.
What does that mean exactly? Imagine Versailles but rejigged for
the 21st century. This hotel in the Loire Valley is an ode to Louis
XV with all the crunchy silk drapery, Marie Antoinette-blue
upholstery and symmetrical, hedge-rowed grounds you could ask for.
Its pool – a perfectly round, opalescent gem at the heart of the
garden – predates social media but is possibly the most Instagrammable we’ve ever seen.

This secluded seaside hotel is in France’s very own island
paradise of Corsica, though looking out over the
Listerine-blue sea it’s not hard to imagine you’re in the Caribbean. Here, it’s all about farm-to-table
dinners, all-natural spa treatments (donkey milk in your bath,
anyone?) and “farniente”, the art of doing nothing. Of course, when
you’re not busy doing nothing there’s a powdery beach to visit,
tumbling, flowery hills to hike and a fleet of private boats to
take you around the island.

If you consider yourself a wine specialist, put Clos 1906 on your
must-visit list. Wake up every morning to rippling vineyards and
clued-up staff who’ll field every question you might have about
this historic wine region. But the emphasis isn’t all on wine; Clos
1906 will titillate antiques nerds, too. Dotted about the hotel are
centuries-old pieces of iconic design and the hotel even has its
own shop for those looking for a memento par excellence.

Tucked away from the Avignon’s main drag and with only five
suites, La Divine Comédie is an exclusive affair. There are plenty
of grounds to explore if you want some uninterrupted “me” time. In
fact, this hotel has the largest private gardens of anywhere in
Avignon. The interiors are exquisite: a blend of panoramic
old tapestries and aged antiques, splashed with modernist touches.
There’s really little incentive to leave this hidden palace, which
is a shame as the city centre’s bright lights are just a hop and a
skip away.

It’s Provence, but not as you know it. Staggered with designer
furniture and priceless 20th-century artworks (we’re talking Andy Warhol
screenprints, for starters), this place puts a thoroughly modern
spin on the classic Provencal hotel. There are nine separate houses
to choose from, each with their own distinct character and an Alain
Ducasse restaurant where fruit and veg plucked straight off the
orchards nearby are whipped into imaginative dishes of taste-bud-bamboozling deliciousness.

A stay at La Colombe d’Or is like sleeping in an art gallery.
This rustic bolthole tucked up in the shrubby hills of
Saint-Paul-de-Vence was a hangout for some of Europe’s most famous
artists back in the 40s and 50s. Their
creativity lives on in the impressive collection of artworks that
decorate the space. You’ll spot a Léger mural among the
vine-tangled terrace, a few Chagalls by the loo and a sweeping
Calder mobile beside the pool. We’d call it a “textbook hotel with
character,” but it’s so unlike anywhere else in France that doing
so would make no sense.

From the coral-hued sun deck to the Charlotte Perriand
furniture to the pool, which looks out over a glistening ocean and
was hewed straight out of the cliff-face, this 50s-style hotel in
the Esterel mountain range knows it’s got swagger. This place is
Instagrammable to the extreme, but there’s substance behind the
style – by which we mean two swimming pools (one being a seawater
pool), a Mediterranean garden, three bars, two restaurants, an
open-air cinema, plus hiking, yoga, cookery classes and pétanque to
boot.

Cosseted away from tourist footfall, this Parisian joint feels like an upscale apartment
rental, thanks in part to the incredibly friendly staff who are
only too willing to take you along with them on jaunts about the
local arrondissement. The hotel itself is staggered with
super-sized photographic prints, vintage record sleeves and zany
light installations. Given its location in the shadow of Montmarte,
Pigalle has long been a hangout for artists and it’s a reputation
the hotel is keen to uphold. It regularly collaborates with young
local and international up-and-coming talent such as interior
designer, Luke Edward Hall and experimental photographer, Maï
Lucas.

Retired party animals might recognise this Parisian boudoir. Les
Bains Douches was one of the city’s most prolific nightclubs back
in the 80s – a haunt for Jean-Michel Basquiat, Yves Saint Laurent
and Mick Jagger, among others. In 2015, it was brought back to life
as possibly the sexiest hotel in Paris. It might have undergone a
major facelift, but Les Bains’ legendary history feels tangible in
its dark and moody Franco-Brazilian restaurant, its mirror-clad
basement club (a regular venue for PFW after-parties) and its
frosty-cool, less-is-more bedrooms.

Wine tourism sound like your kind of thing? Ours too. Les
Sources de Caudalie was the pioneer in this field and have been
dishing out “vinotherapy” spa treatments, stellar cellar wine
tastings and gourmet, wine-led menus (expect a glass with
breakfast) since 1999. It sits among the bucolic grounds of a
600-year-old winery in Bordeaux and is decorated in a charmingly
rural (but undeniably luxe) style which befits its history. Its
outhouses might look like time-weathered kinks in the landscape,
but they were actually built a couple of decades ago, albeit in
faithful imitation of the region’s traditional architecture.

When the owner of a hotel is known as a curator, architect and
designer, you know you’re in for a treat. Philippe Schiepan is the
mastermind behind this church conversion in fashionable Arles. It’s a hotel that knows its angles.
Polished concrete, geometric furniture, one-off design objets and a
natural palette inspired by the landscape of the nearby Camargue
wetlands make it feel like you’re part of a living art
installation. With only four rooms, it doesn’t come with the
amenities of a big hotel – a restaurant, a swimming pool or a
private beach, for instance – but boy does it have soul. Schiepan
regularly books the whole place out to host artists residencies and
exhibitions.