25 of the best hotels, B&Bs and chateaux in France

From country houses and mountain chalets to seaside chambres d’hôte and cool city pads, our France travel expert picks her favourite boltholes. Surrounded by vineyards in the heart of the Languedoc, the turreted Château les Carrasses has all the ingredients for a relaxing getaway. Its studio rooms and apartments sleep two to four; the self-catering villas up to eight. The infinity pool, mini-farm and kids’ club make it ideal for families, and there are complimentary mountain bikes, tennis courts, pétanque, yoga classes and a spa. The on-site restaurant, L’Orta, relaunches this year with farm-to-fork menus and a sustainability ethos.

Room-only doubles from €169, lescarrasses.com. This chic new hotel in the Perche region, a favourite weekend bolthole for Parisians, is set in a peaceful valley near the town of Montagne-au-Perche. Its owners, Stéphane Renaud and Éric Brossard, have restored this 18th-century hunting lodge with impeccable style. Its nine rooms feature wooden beams, polished floorboards and curated art – all providing inspiration for shopping in the brocante and antiques shops for which the Perche is known. Be sure to book a table at their restaurant – Stéphane is an architect turned chef who creates delightful menus from seasonal produce.

Room-only doubles from €150, hotellespres.com. The sophisticated Château de Montcaud enjoys a fantastic location that brings it within reach of the villages and vineyards of the Luberon, historic Avignon and the Roman sites at Nîmes. However, the challenge will be to tear yourself away to see it all, with a pool, two excellent restaurants and expansive grounds to explore. Bedrooms are decorated in a refined yet simple style, each with a vibrant silk panel as a nod to the chateau’s original silk merchant owner.

Room-only doubles from €195, chateaudemontcaud.com. Equidistant from the north and south coasts of Brittany (each around an hour’s drive away), Le Manoir Caché is a wonderfully welcoming chambres d’hôte set in the quiet village of Merdrignac. Host Anoushka Lewis has renovated the elegant maison, which dates from the 18th and 19th centuries, with vivid prints and upcycled furniture. Her creative attention to detail makes the decor a joy to admire, while her breakfast is a feast. There are three double bedrooms (one can be made a twin), so it’s ideal for couples or families. There is much to explore nearby, including the Lac de Trémelin, which has a high ropes course and a beach if the coast seems too far.

B&B doubles from €80, sawdays.co.uk. Le Mans, and the area around it, makes for a great stopover when driving from the northern ferry ports to the south of France, and there’s reason to linger even longer at Château de Montaupin. Owners Fady and Cynthia have renovated this beautiful 18th-century chateau as a B&B and created five spacious bedrooms that are perfect for families, sleeping between three and five. There’s a swimming pool in the grounds and Cynthia’s tables d’hote show off her superb cooking, which uses vegetables grown in the garden. Le Mans is more than its racing circuit, with a medieval old town to explore, while there is a swimming lake nearby.

B&B triple room from €180, chateau-de-montaupin.com. It’s a wonder the little town of Chaudes-Aigues isn’t better known, as its hot springs are the hottest in Europe. There are 32 springs in total, but the easiest to find are the two that steam out of water fountains in a quiet back street and are naturally 65C and 82C. The town also has a spa centre and geothermal museum, while food-lovers will be spoiled at Sodade, where dishes showcase the exceptional produce from the volcanic terroir of the Cantal. The restaurant is part of Hôtel Sodade, where the quiet, luxurious rooms blend natural materials with stylish modern design.

Room-only doubles from €100, sergevieira.com. There isn’t that much to see and do in this area of Picardy but this is precisely the reason to go; the peacefulness that pervades at Les Chambres d’Aumont invites you to switch off completely. The four huge rooms (doubles and one family room for four) are set in a former stable block with exposed red brick and wood beams, along with rattan carpets and crisp white bed linen. The surrounding countryside is ideal for bike rides or walks through the wheat fields, and if you do need some civilisation, the fantastic city of Amiens is half an hour’s drive away.

B&B doubles from €105, sawdays.co.uk. Just a half-hour drive from Saint-Jean-de-Luz in France’s Basque Country, the tiny village of Sare punches far above its weight in terms of attractions. Not only is it close to the rack railway that goes up to the area’s highest peak, La Rhune, it has caves to visit and myriad restaurants. One of them is set in the delightful Hôtel Arraya, where chef Charlotte Bertrand’s menu blends Basque produce and global influences. The hotel is set in a 16th-century house and has 16 elegant rooms decorated in classic toiles and checks (two suites sleep up to four). In the back garden there’s a small swimming pool.