Some people consider that a hotel is just somewhere to sleep and if it’s clean and the bed’s OK, then it’s OK – I’m not one of those. I’ve never been too good at roughing it for the sake of frugality alone. Having said that, I also have champagne taste on a beer budget…well… not necessarily beer but it is more prosecco than champagne.

Nevertheless, I do like my luxury to warrant the price – and so often the most expensive examples do not …and I hate to be disappointed as well a broke. So, in order that you’re not, I’ve done the hard yards. (It’s tough but someone has to do it!)

My favourite hotels fall into three categories

• Hotels that are at a destination to where I’m travelling. Situation Hotels
• Hotels that are the destination – I’d travel there just to stay at the hotel. Destination Hotels
• Lastly, hotels where I may have drunk at the bar or eaten at the restaurant but never stayed (but would like to.) Aspirational Hotels

Here are the hotels in the first category – stay tuned for the rest.

Situation Hotels (in alphabetical order of location)

Hotel DO –
Barcelona.

Hotel du Lac – Lake Como, Bellagio, Italy.

Grand Hotel – Bordeaux, France.

Hotel du Vin – Brighton, England.

Hotel Le Brighton- Paris, France.

Le Relais des Halles – Paris, France.

Hostellerie de Plaisance – St. Emilion, France

Barcelona, Spain

Hotel Do is a boutique hotel on the corner of Plaça Reial ( a lively pedestrian square) and an alleyway leading off Las Ramblas (a large boulevard that runs through the heart of Barcelona).

The hotel is in the epicentre of the action of Las Ramblas, including La Boqueria, the best permanent covered market I have ever visited and Barcelona’s Opera house, Gran Teatre del Liceu. It is minutes from Plaça Catalunya the busy major square of Barcelona.

The hotel has one of the many restaurants that line the Plaça Reial’s covered walkways – and it’s excellent.

Tree-lined Las Ramblas

From above

La Boqueria

Market produce

It’s a tiny hotel but with a big personality and with service that’s second to none. When I arrived at the hotel, arranged for me, pronto, was a welcome glass of cava (Spain’s prosecco) and a plate of tapas (included in the tariff) taken overlooking the Plaça. ( I’d travelled from Arles by train – a three-hour (plus) journey and had missed lunch). The staff here seem to anticipate your every need and fulfil it happily and discreetly.

Fruit is delivered daily to your room and each afternoon they leave a treat in your room: maybe cake, maybe biscuits – just a little morsel to sustain you until dinner time…and then there’s the red rose in the bathroom, fresh daily.

On the downside, this is a small hotel and the rooms fill up quickly and can be expensive. Luckily for me, they have one single room (I often travel alone) and although it is an interior room with no view and is very small, it is well fitted out and it made the stay more affordable for me.

Unfortunately, the rooftop pool is more a tub in which to cool off than a swimming pool but apart from this, the common areas are pleasant, encouraging some serious ‘swanning.’

With the plethora of hotels in Barcelona (and I have stayed at half a dozen) this is my favourite.

Features

• Stunning location
• Ambiance
• good facilities
• Excellent service

Bellagio, Lake Como, Italy.

Hotel du Lac is lakeside, overlooking Lake Como just across the street from the Bellagio ferry stop. To say that the location is good is an understatement – and oh, the view from my room!

I’d arrived in Bellagio just as a summer storm was brewing. I’d rented a room with a view, had I not I would have missed the front-row seat that this afforded me.

And so I watched the storm clouds break over Lake Como from one of the two sets of French windows in my room. The windows opened out onto Juliet balconies whose iron railings were festooned with flowering vines providing a lovely frame for the storm.

The hotel itself has a bar and a restaurant… but this is Bellagio where there are a plethora of bars and restaurants many fronting the lake, which was where I preferred to eat. The ambiance lakeside is breathtaking.

Lakeside dining

Lunchtime and aperol spritz

The common areas of the hotel are OK – but nothing special and the service in the hotel left me with nothing to complain about but nothing to rave about either. I find that most often, this is good enough – I tend to dislike overly and overtly attentive and fussy service.

The price wasn’t too expensive, but it wasn’t cheap either – especially for a lake-view room but with views like these, why would you be content looking over the fire escape? If you are happy to forego the view, I’m sure there are cheaper and nicer alternatives but I wouldn’t be happy to forego that view.

Features

• Location
• View

Bordeaux, France

Le Grand is an Intercontinental Hotel – and I have to admit to having a penchant for this five-star hotel brand.

Location wise, Bordeaux’s Intercontinental is on one of the main squares of Bordeaux and looks over to Bordeaux’s lovely Opera House. The very efficient tram service passes its doors and it’s a minute away from the transport (tram) interchange of Quinconques from where you can catch a tram to the the train station with links to the airport.

Shopping, restaurants and most facilities are within the vicinity. It is just a few minutes walk to the river where you’ll often find seasonal markets and fairs. Not forgetting it is just around the corner from the best chocolate shop in the world, Cadiot-Badie. I still dream about their ‘diamants noirs’ (black diamonds.)

Chef Gordon Ramsay has a restaurant in the hotel, I haven’t tried it but have tried one of his in Los Angeles and was impressed. The common areas of the hotel are opulent and comfortable and when I was there on business, I’d sit in the lounge, eating foie gras and drinking rosé while putting the finishing touches to the paper I was presenting at Bordeaux University. It’s another great hotel for ‘swanning.’

The service is efficient and pleasant and the concierges make every effort to accomodate requests. One of the receptionists even ran after me with an umbrella when he realised it was starting to rain moments after I walked out of the door to a hairdressing appointment he’d arranged.

The downside of this hotel is the size and quality of the rooms. Most rooms are in need of updating and the first time I stayed, my room had insufficient space for my suitcase, so it lived on the other side of my double bed. Luckily I was the only one in the room, although the room was offered as a double.

To be fair though, I was staying in one of their lead-in rooms. Another time, I upgraded to a room that was situated in the mansard roof, it was a lot bigger and had a lovely small balcony that overlooked the square and the Opera House. Nevertheless, this room still had the outdated furnishings and was a tad shabby too.

As for the price: the lead-in rooms are already expensive, upgrading to the room in the mansard was at least double the price but bargains can be had during off-peak times.

Features

• Location
• Views (from the roof top rooms)
• Ambiance
• Service
• Good public facilities

Brighton, England –

Hotel du Vin is another boutique hotel (there seems to be a few on this list). I’ve stayed here on a couple of occasions. In the past it was because it was near where my brother lived. I was in Brighton to visit him.

Brighton is a lively seaside town and many hotels have magnificent sea views – but not the Hotel du Vin. Yet, what this hotel misses out on as far as views are concerned, it gains in ambiance.

Both times I’ve stayed it has been in winter and the hotel’s common areas, which consist of a restaurant and a couple of bars, are cosily and dimly lit with open fireplaces and wood-panelled walls. It makes it such a pleasure to step inside out of a cold blustery and dark night (the darkness starting from about 4pm on this side of the world in deepest winter).

The lead-in rooms are small but beautifully appointed. On my last visit, they upgraded my room to a much larger one that had the most beautiful and spacious bathroom resplendent with a claw-foot bath and lovely complimentary bath products.

What’s more, the food in the restaurant is high-class, top quality restaurant fare. (Even the bar food is delicious and classy.) The wine list is to die for and the bar is stocked with whatever tipple takes your fancy. This means that there is no reason to venture out into the cold to find dinner or a drink, just come downstairs (no coat required) settle into an armchair next to the fire and sip a glass of champagne before a night of culinary delights served by black-tie waiters.

Replete, all that’s left to do is to stagger upstairs to bed – or maybe a soak in that claw-foot bath?

A hearty english breakfast is served in the restaurant in the morning and I can remember drinking the most delicious orange juice, I have ever tasted (and that includes the offering in Morocco where freshly picked oranges are juiced by a vendor on a bike to order -although that was delicious too).

Come to think of it, now my brother has moved house and I no more have reason to go to Brighton, perhaps this hotel will get upgraded to my Destination Hotels category – especially on a cold, English winter’s night.

Features

• Ambiance
• Great public facilities and rooms, especially the restaurants and bar.

Paris, France

Le Relais des Halles and Le Brighton are both favourite hotels in which to stay while in Paris although they are very different to each other.

As far as Le Brighton is concerned, it’s a medium-sized hotel and it’s all about the views. The location is good as it’s directly across the road from the Tuileries Gardens and the Louvre. But better still, the Eiffel Tower, the dome of ‘Invalides’ and the D’Orsay Museum are all in view from the front rooms of the hotel (Tuileries and Louvre included) which is why it is the view that is the most impressive thing about this hotel. Paris is before you. How do you beat that?

The hotel has a nice public lounge (faded grandeur) but has no bar or any dining establishment. Breakfast is taken in some small back rooms on the ground floor.

The rooms need renovating; I’d describe them as third empire, shabby with once plush carpets, now a little threadbare and dark mahogany wood now scratched and distressed.

The service is pleasant but cursory, which is a big improvement on some of the establishments where I’ve stayed in Paris. In my experience, the service at too many Paris hotels has been brusque, even a little rude. But what the heck? This is Paris and we’re here because it’s Paris. How can you be angry in Paris?

Le Brighton’s pricepoint is relatively expensive – especially if you are staying in one of the front rooms, and as far as I’m concerned, if you are not staying in one of these rooms, in spite of the location, there is little point in staying here at all.

That is, not if you can stay in Le Relais des Halles instead. In my opinion, this small (yes, boutique again) three-star hotel is a much better option if you’re prepared to forfeit those views to save some money. It’s certainly a lot cheaper and possibly the only three-star hotel that will make this list.

The location is within easy walking distance from the main interchange RER (train station) Châtelet Les Halles, which is a real benefit as you can catch a train from the airport (Aeroport Charles De Gaulle) direct, without having to change lines. It’s four times as quick as catching a taxi and probably a tenth of the price.

The hotel has no real public spaces but is in such a central location that everything is handy and within an easy walk. There are a plethora of restaurants and bars, the Seine is minutes away, the market street, Avenue Montorgueil is a five-minute walk. The Museums and galleries are also nearby.

The rooms are beautifully appointed and up to date. At this hotel they also have a single room, which, if vacant, makes the the stay more affordable for a single traveller. I stayed in this room – it was small but comfortable and welcoming and as it was in the attic, I had a lovely view over the rooftops of Paris – and rooftop views may not be La Tour Eiffel but they are still views.

The price of this hotel is not exactly cheap (nothing in Paris ever is) but is comparatively affordable. Be warned, more people than me love this hotel and are attracted by its value for money, so you’ll need to book early.

Features

• Location
• Ambiance
• Lovely rooms
• Price
• Some rooftop views

St Emilion, France

Hostellerie de Plaisance (now known as Hotel de Pavie) is in the most extraordinarily commanding position, sitting atop the village of St. Emilion in the Bordeaux region of south-west France. It’s high above the vineyards of the famous wine appellation that bears the same name as the village.

And if the St. Emilion wines (mostly red) are not to your taste, (although I don’t see why they wouldn’t be) on St. Emilion’s eastern border are the vineyards of ‘Chateau Petrus’ the most expensive red wine in the world, made from exclusively merlot grapes. It’s been said that the average price of a bottle of Pétrus is $2,630 (and I think they may have been quoting US dollars).

I first visited St. Emilion 30 years ago and stayed in the Hostellerie. At that time, it was a simple inn with a breathtaking location, a lovely restaurant and basic rooms – comfortable but not luxurious. However, it was lovely in its simplicity. How things have changed in 30 years

The establishment has now been taken over by the prestigious Relais and Chateaux chain and the place has undergone a complete refurbishment. It’s restaurant boasts a three-hatted Michelin starred chef and it serves haute cuisine with a plethora of local wines, some with eye-watering price tags. Oh, but it’s so nice.

The views from the windows of the public spaces are of the clock tower and its grounds are prettily adorned with flowers and plants. But the rooms, most of them down a storey or two (spilling down the hill), have splendid views over the village. This time, my partner and I had a room with a large terrace overlooking the fields and beyond. It was so enticing that regardless of the cold, we rugged up and sat outside drinking red wine and admiring the view.

The price tag for this room reflected the prestige of the establishment. Was it worth it? You betcha.

Features

• Location
• Ambiance
• views
• more than adequate service
• A high price tag

Note: I realise what I call expensive, some may not and vice versa – so as a guide, I like to come in at under $AU250 per night for a hotel room, something I’m finding harder and harder to do these days – and certainly many of my favourite hotels would not often routinely qualify. However, I’m a dab hand at finding specials and I’m lucky to have more time to devote to the pursuit of a bargain than most. It’s the old equation: if you haven’t got the money you’ll need to throw time at it instead. It works.