InterContinental Bordeaux — Le Grand Hôtel

Le Grand Hôtel occupies the most prestigious corner of Bordeaux: an eighteenth-century neoclassical block facing Victor Louis's colonnaded Grand Théâtre across the Place de la Comédie, at the heart of the city's UNESCO-listed stone centre. Its twenty-first-century rebirth gave the interiors to Jacques Garcia, whose signature velvet-and-gilt opulence suits a city built on wine fortunes.

Rooms range from richly dressed classics to suites with theatre views; the hotel's position puts the Golden Triangle's shops, the Cité du Vin and the riverfront within easy walking distance, making it the natural base for exploring the city between château excursions.

Gastronomy leads with Le Pressoir d'Argent, Gordon Ramsay's two-Michelin-starred restaurant renowned for its pressed-lobster ritual using a rare silver duck press, alongside a lively brasserie and one of the best rooftop bars in the city, whose terrace looks across Bordeaux's rooftops to the theatre's statuary. A spa with a pool completes the city's most complete grand hotel.