Lakeside Hotel
Moltrasio, Italy
9.8
Passalacqua
An 18th-century villa above Lake Como transformed by its owning family into a 24-suite masterpiece of Italian craft, gardens and joyous hospitality.
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Europe
Grand palaces, lake villas and legendary Riviera icons.
75 hotels profiled in Europe
Beach Resort
Antibes, France
9.6
Hotel du Cap-Eden-Roc
The Riviera legend at the tip of Cap d'Antibes, where pine-scented gardens, the seawater Eden-Roc pool and film-festival mythology endure.
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City Hotel
Paris, France
9.6
Ritz Paris
The original palace hotel on Place Vendôme, reborn after a four-year restoration with Bar Hemingway, a gilded pool and the ghost of Coco Chanel intact.
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City Hotel
Paris, France
9.5
Hotel de Crillon, A Rosewood Hotel
An 18th-century palace on Place de la Concorde reborn with contemporary French craft, couture suites and one of Paris's most beautiful courtyards.
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City Hotel
Venice, Italy
9.5
Aman Venice
A 16th-century palazzo on the Grand Canal, its Tiepolo ceilings and private gardens sheltering just 24 rooms of monastic-luxe calm.
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Resort
Portofino, Italy
9.5
Splendido, A Belmond Hotel
A former monastery on the hillside above Portofino's harbour, the Italian Riviera's most glamorous perch since 1901.
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Lakeside Hotel
Cernobbio, Italy
9.5
Villa d'Este
A 16th-century cardinal's villa on Lake Como with 25 acres of Renaissance gardens and a floating pool moored on the lake itself.
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Resort
Saint-Jean-Cap-Ferrat, France
9.5
Grand-Hôtel du Cap-Ferrat, A Four Seasons Hotel
A 1908 white palace amid seven hectares of pines at the tip of Cap-Ferrat, home to the Riviera's most storied seawater pool.
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City Hotel
Monte-Carlo, Monaco
9.5
Hôtel de Paris Monte-Carlo
Monaco's founding palace hotel of 1864 on the Place du Casino, home to Alain Ducasse's Louis XV and Europe's most famous hotel cellars.
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City Hotel
Paris, France
9.4
Cheval Blanc Paris
LVMH's Seine-front maison in the Art Deco La Samaritaine building, offering couture interiors, a 30-metre pool and river-view gastronomy.
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City Hotel
London, United Kingdom
9.4
Claridge's
Mayfair's Art Deco jewel remains London's most glamorous address, from chequerboard lobby and legendary tea to a subterranean spa retreat.
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City Hotel
Paris, France
9.4
La Réserve Paris
A 40-key Haussmannian mansion off the Champs-Élysées that feels like staying in a collector's private apartment, with two-star gastronomy below.
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City Hotel
Paris, France
9.4
Hôtel Plaza Athénée
The red-awninged palace of Avenue Montaigne since 1913, with Eiffel Tower views, a geranium-clad courtyard and haute couture on the doorstep.
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City Hotel
Budapest, Hungary
9.4
Four Seasons Hotel Gresham Palace
A 1906 Art Nouveau masterpiece facing the Chain Bridge across the Danube, restored to jewel-like glory with peacock gates and Zsolnay tiles.
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Resort
Taormina, Italy
9.4
San Domenico Palace, Taormina, A Four Seasons Hotel
A 14th-century Dominican convent turned clifftop palace above the Ionian Sea, with Mount Etna framed from its cloistered gardens.
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Country House
Adare, Ireland
9.4
Adare Manor
A neo-Gothic calendar house on 840 acres in County Limerick, exhaustively restored and set to host the 2027 Ryder Cup.
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City Hotel
Venice, Italy
9.3
The Gritti Palace
A 15th-century doge's palace on the Grand Canal whose terrace, antiques and Santa Maria della Salute views embody Venetian grandeur.
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City Hotel
London, United Kingdom
9.3
The Ritz London
César Ritz's 1906 Piccadilly landmark, where Louis XVI interiors, the Palm Court and a gilded dining room keep Edwardian London gloriously alive.
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City Hotel
Nice, France
9.3
Le Negresco
The pink-domed grande dame of the Promenade des Anglais, a 1913 palace hotel that doubles as a private museum of French art.
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Lakeside Hotel
Tremezzo, Italy
9.3
Grand Hotel Tremezzo
A 1910 Art Nouveau palace on Lake Como's western shore, famous for its floating lake pool and views across to Bellagio.
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Lakeside Hotel
Lausanne, Switzerland
9.3
Beau-Rivage Palace
A Belle Époque palace in four hectares of gardens on Lake Geneva's Ouchy shore, home to Anne-Sophie Pic's celebrated Lausanne outpost.
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City Hotel
Paris, France
9.2
Le Meurice
The artists' palace opposite the Tuileries, where Dali-era eccentricity meets Louis XVI elegance and Alain Ducasse-led dining.
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Ski Hotel
St. Moritz, Switzerland
9.2
Badrutt's Palace
The turreted 1896 landmark of Alpine society hotel-keeping, where St. Moritz glamour, lake views and ski-season theatre converge.
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Country House
Cong, Ireland
9.2
Ashford Castle
An 800-year-old castle estate on Lough Corrib where falconry, wood-panelled halls and Irish warmth make fairy-tale luxury feel real.
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City Hotel
Venice, Italy
9.2
Hotel Danieli
A 14th-century doge's palace on the Riva degli Schiavoni, whose gilded Gothic atrium and lagoon-view rooftop define Venetian grand-hotel romance.
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City Hotel
Berlin, Germany
9.2
Hotel Adlon Kempinski
Berlin's legendary address beside the Brandenburg Gate, rebuilt in 1997 to the spirit of the 1907 original that hosted kaisers, kings and Garbo.
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City Hotel
Stockholm, Sweden
9.2
Grand Hôtel Stockholm
Sweden's waterfront flagship since 1874, facing the Royal Palace across the harbour and hosting Nobel laureates for more than a century.
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Beach Resort
Cannes, France
9.2
Carlton Cannes, a Regent Hotel
The twin-cupola Belle Époque queen of La Croisette, freshly restored and forever entwined with the Cannes Film Festival.
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Wellness Retreat
Baden-Baden, Germany
9.2
Brenners Park-Hotel & Spa
The Oetker Collection's 1872 grande dame on Baden-Baden's Lichtentaler Allee, anchored by the Villa Stéphanie medical spa.
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Resort
Taormina, Italy
9.2
Grand Hotel Timeo, A Belmond Hotel
Taormina's original hotel of 1873, beside the ancient Greek theatre with a terrace many call the finest view in Sicily.
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Ski Hotel
Gstaad, Switzerland
9.2
Gstaad Palace
The turreted, family-owned castle-hotel above Gstaad since 1913, winter court of the Alps' most discreetly glamorous village.
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Country House
Auchterarder, United Kingdom
9.1
Gleneagles
A glamorous 1920s Perthshire estate where championship golf, gundogs and falconry meet a surprisingly stylish country-house party.
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City Hotel
London, United Kingdom
9.1
The Dorchester
A 1931 Park Lane institution overlooking Hyde Park, mixing Art Deco glamour, deep English tradition and one of Mayfair's liveliest dining line-ups.
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Ski Hotel
St. Moritz, Switzerland
9.1
Kulm Hotel St. Moritz
The 1856 birthplace of Alpine winter tourism, where Switzerland's first electric light still glows over Engadin panoramas, the Cresta Run and a superb spa.
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City Hotel
Copenhagen, Denmark
9.1
Hotel d'Angleterre
Copenhagen's white palace on Kongens Nytorv since 1755, famous for its Michelin-starred Marchal, champagne bar and spectacular Christmas facade.
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City Hotel
Hamburg, Germany
9.1
Fairmont Hotel Vier Jahreszeiten
Hamburg's lakefront institution since 1897, regularly counted among Germany's finest hotels for its Alster views and Haerlin dining.
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Resort
Funchal, Portugal
9.1
Belmond Reid's Palace
Madeira's clifftop institution since 1891, famous for subtropical gardens, saltwater pools and afternoon tea above the Atlantic.
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Country House
Taplow, United Kingdom
9.1
Cliveden House
A Grade I-listed stately home above the Thames, seat of the Astors and stage of the Profumo affair, now England's most storied country-house hotel.
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City Hotel
London, United Kingdom
9.0
The Savoy
London's original grand hotel on the Strand still delivers Thames-view suites, Art Deco glamour and the theatrical service it invented in 1889.
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City Hotel
Rome, Italy
9.0
Hotel de Russie
A Rocco Forte classic between Piazza del Popolo and the Spanish Steps, beloved for its terraced secret garden and understated Roman elegance.
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City Hotel
Istanbul, Turkey
9.0
Çırağan Palace Kempinski
A restored Ottoman palace on the Bosphorus shore whose waterfront infinity pool and sultan-era suites remain Istanbul's grandest stage.
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City Hotel
London, United Kingdom
9.0
Rosewood London
An Edwardian banking headquarters on High Holborn reborn as a manor-house-in-the-city, entered through a grand carriage courtyard.
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City Hotel
Rome, Italy
9.0
Hassler Roma
A family-run grande dame crowning the Spanish Steps, with rooftop Michelin-starred dining and the whole of Rome unrolled below.
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Resort
Capri, Italy
9.0
Grand Hotel Quisisana
Capri's grande dame since 1845 on Via Camerelle, steps from the Piazzetta, with gardens, twin pools and the island's most storied terrace.
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City Hotel
Vienna, Austria
9.0
Hotel Imperial
A Ringstrasse palace built for a prince and converted for the 1873 World's Fair, where butlers, marble staircases and the Imperial Torte keep Habsburg Vienna alive.
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City Hotel
Geneva, Switzerland
9.0
Four Seasons Hotel des Bergues
Geneva's oldest grand hotel, an 1834 landmark on the Rhône where lake, Jet d'Eau and Mont Blanc views meet rooftop Japanese-Peruvian dining.
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Wellness Retreat
Évian-les-Bains, France
9.0
Hôtel Royal
A 1909 palace above Lake Geneva at the heart of the Evian Resort, pairing Belle Époque frescoes with serious spa and golf.
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City Hotel
Monte-Carlo, Monaco
9.0
Hôtel Hermitage Monte-Carlo
Monte-Carlo's quieter Belle Époque palace, prized for its Gustave Eiffel-attributed winter garden dome and harbour-view terraces.
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City Hotel
Seville, Spain
9.0
Hotel Alfonso XIII
Seville's 1929 Mudéjar-revival palace, commissioned by royal decree for the Ibero-American Exposition and still the city's ceremonial address.
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Resort
Palermo, Italy
9.0
Villa Igiea, a Rocco Forte Hotel
The Florio dynasty's Art Nouveau palazzo on Palermo's bay, restored by Rocco Forte as Sicily's great city-edge grande dame.
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Lakeside Hotel
Bellagio, Italy
9.0
Grand Hotel Villa Serbelloni
Bellagio's family-run grande dame since 1873, commanding the promontory where Lake Como's two arms divide.
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Wellness Retreat
Interlaken, Switzerland
9.0
Victoria-Jungfrau Grand Hotel & Spa
Interlaken's 1865 grande dame facing the Jungfrau across the Höhematte meadow, with one of Switzerland's largest hotel spas.
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City Hotel
Vienna, Austria
8.9
Hotel Sacher Wien
Vienna's velvet-and-chandelier institution opposite the Opera House, family-owned since 1876 and home of the original Sachertorte.
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City Hotel
Edinburgh, United Kingdom
8.9
The Balmoral
Edinburgh's 1902 railway palace on Princes Street, whose famous clock tower anchors the city skyline between the Castle and Calton Hill.
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City Hotel
Barcelona, Spain
8.9
Hotel Arts Barcelona
A 44-storey steel tower over Port Olímpic beside Frank Gehry's golden fish, pairing beachfront Barcelona with two-Michelin-star dining high above the Mediterranean.
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Ski Hotel
Zermatt, Switzerland
8.9
Grand Hotel Zermatterhof
Zermatt's 1879 grande dame, owned by the village's own burghers, with horse-drawn carriage arrivals and the Matterhorn filling the windows.
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City Hotel
San Sebastián, Spain
8.9
Hotel Maria Cristina
The Belle Époque queen of San Sebastián since 1912, riverside home of the film festival in Europe's greatest eating city.
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Lakeside Hotel
Montreux, Switzerland
8.9
Fairmont Le Montreux Palace
Montreux's 1906 Belle Époque landmark on the Lake Geneva riviera, where Nabokov lived for sixteen years and the jazz festival comes home.
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Country House
Øye, Norway
8.9
Hotel Union Øye
An 1891 wooden hotel deep in the Sunnmøre Alps at the head of the Norangsfjord, restored as Norway's most romantic hideaway.
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City Hotel
Istanbul, Turkey
8.8
Four Seasons Hotel Istanbul at Sultanahmet
A converted neoclassical building in the heart of the old city, steps from Hagia Sophia, the Blue Mosque and Topkapı Palace.
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City Hotel
Milan, Italy
8.8
Hotel Principe di Savoia
Milan's neoclassical grande dame on Piazza della Repubblica since the 1920s, with a rooftop pool club surveying the city and the Alps beyond.
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City Hotel
Munich, Germany
8.8
Hotel Bayerischer Hof
Munich's family-owned institution since 1841 on Promenadeplatz, spanning a mirrored 19th-century bar, a jazz club and a rooftop spa by Andrée Putman.
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City Hotel
Istanbul, Türkiye
8.8
Pera Palace Hotel
Built in 1892 for Orient Express passengers, the Pera Palace preserves Agatha Christie's room, Atatürk's museum suite and Istanbul's grandest afternoon tea.
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Wellness Retreat
Karlovy Vary, Czechia
8.8
Grandhotel Pupp
Karlovy Vary's neo-baroque colossus with roots in 1701, spa-town host to composers, emperors and the town's famous film festival.
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Country House
Fort William, United Kingdom
8.8
Inverlochy Castle Hotel
A Victorian baronial castle in the shadow of Ben Nevis, praised by Queen Victoria and long the Highlands' most refined retreat.
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Beach Resort
Dubrovnik, Croatia
8.8
Hotel Excelsior Dubrovnik
Dubrovnik's seafront classic since 1913, gazing across the Adriatic to the old town walls and Lokrum island.
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City Hotel
Barcelona, Spain
8.7
Mandarin Oriental Barcelona
A former bank on Passeig de Gràcia turned white-on-white design statement, with destination gastronomy and a rooftop dipping pool.
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City Hotel
Athens, Greece
8.7
Hotel Grande Bretagne
Athens' 19th-century grande dame on Syntagma Square, with Acropolis views from its rooftop and marble grandeur throughout.
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City Hotel
Athens, Greece
8.7
King George, Athens
A 1930s landmark on Syntagma Square whose rooftop restaurant and penthouse pool look straight onto the floodlit Acropolis.
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City Hotel
Amsterdam, Netherlands
8.7
De L'Europe Amsterdam
An 1896 grande dame at the meeting of the Amstel and the canal ring, with Dutch Masters on the walls and terraces hanging over the water.
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City Hotel
Lisbon, Portugal
8.7
Pestana Palace Lisboa
A late-19th-century aristocratic palace and national monument in Lisbon's Alcântara district, set in botanical gardens with a garden pool.
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City Hotel
Reykjavík, Iceland
8.7
Hotel Borg
Iceland's original grand hotel, a 1930 Art Deco landmark on Austurvöllur square opposite the national parliament.
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City Hotel
Dublin, Ireland
8.6
The Shelbourne
Dublin's 1824 grande dame on St Stephen's Green, where the Irish Constitution was drafted and the Horseshoe Bar still sets the city's social clock.
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City Hotel
Zagreb, Croatia
8.6
Esplanade Zagreb Hotel
Zagreb's 1925 Art Deco monument, built to pamper Orient Express passengers and still the city's great social institution.
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Lakeside Hotel
Balestrand, Norway
8.6
Kviknes Hotel
A family-run wooden grand hotel on the Sognefjord since 1877, painted by artists and patronised by emperors.
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