The year in retro: our 10 favorite hotels for 2021

Grand Hotel Tremezzo, Lake Como, Italy

Inaugurated in 1910, this Art Nouveau palace overlooks the peaceful waters of Lake Como, a resort for the Italian aristocracy since the 18th century.

Exclaimed the hero of

, taking refuge by the lake. Stendhal, Bellini, Liszt, and so many others drew their inspiration from these magnificent shores. A past splendor of which there are still majestic buildings, like the Grand Hotel Tremezzo, which has not really changed since Greta Garbo set up her summer quarters there. Although it has undergone major renovations, the dolce vita atmosphere of the

is expertly maintained by Valentina de Santis, representative of the third generation of this family of hoteliers.

She grew up there, knows every nook and cranny, and breathes a resolutely glamorous soul, from sumptuous rooms and suites to lush gardens.

From the splendor of the times, the 5-star hotel has retained opulent luxury and the warmest

hospitality

.

We tested.

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Fort and Islands Hotel, Chausey, France

Opened over 100 years ago, the Hôtel du Fort et des îles in Chausey is the one and only establishment in this Norman archipelago, accessible in 45 minutes from Granville or 70 minutes from Saint-Malo.

Chausey Tourist Office

Opened over 100 years ago, the one and only hotel in this Norman archipelago of 365 islets, accessible in 45 minutes from Granville, 70 minutes from Saint-Malo, is a must. Perched in line with the pier where passengers and goods disembark, he forced his calves and arms armed with baggage to tighten up. But, without an ounce of sectarianism and favoritism, this establishment hoisted on the Big Island, right in front of the Sound, a natural channel slaloming between the rocks, approaches 10/10. impressive tides, the abundantly flowery coastline, from spring to autumn, and the comings and goings of boats, crabbers, trawlers, sailboats, tenders etc. With the added bonus of an excellent chef Mickael Chaumont and a formidable pastry chef, Gérard Gosset.

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Belmond Splendido Mare Hotel, Portofino, Italy

Completely renovated, the Splendido Mare has reopened under the Belmond brand.

Private tour of the mythical address of the Ligurian coast.

Courtesy Belmond

The renovation of this hotel is blowing a new wind of dolce vita on the Riviera du Levant. The Splendido Mare is the first hotel to be renovated since the Belmond group joined LVMH in 2019 and colossal work has upgraded two buildings which now form only one. The location couldn't be better, the Splendido Mare is located in the main square of Portofino, facing the port. Here is an elegant house with 14 rooms and suites where contemporary and vintage pieces coexist to give an impression of timelessness. Entrusted to the Parisian agency Festen Architecture, it is a clever mix of references to the history of Portofino, its past as a fishing port and the cinematographic glamor of the 1950s. And for the table,Belmond called on the Da Vittorio group to open the DaV Mare restaurant.

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Hotel Babel, Paris, France

In Paris, the 31 rooms of the Hotel Babel, in Belleville, are adorned with ocher, terracotta or sea green tones.

Babel Hotels Belleville / Benoit Linero / Photo press

This boutique hotel with multiple personalities is an invitation to travel, from the cobblestones of the 20th arrondissement of Paris to the caravan trails of the Silk Road.

 : this sentence appears here like a mantra.

Joris Bruneel, co-founder of the MyHotels group (around twenty establishments which are mainly Accor franchises) and Clarie Feral-Akram, Franco-Afghan chef trained at Ferrandi, have put all their love of Belleville and the Orient between these walls where diversity is a richness and authenticity a cultivated value.

The heart of popular Paris beats at Babel, in a joyful and relaxed atmosphere where the language of good food and shared pleasure is practiced.

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Hotel Barrière Le Carl Gustaf, Saint-Barthélemy, France

It is in Saint-Barthélemy, in the heart of the Caribbean Sea, that Barrière opened a new five-star hotel, the Hôtel Barrière Le Carl Gustaf.

Fabrice Rambert

A few weeks before the start of the Covid-19 pandemic, the emblematic hotel in Gustavia on the French island of Saint-Barthélemy reopened under the Barrière banner after an unprecedented renovation. From the old existing establishment in the colonial style everything has been demolished or almost, only the structure has been kept identical. The Carl Gustaf now has 21 keys: exceptional rooms, suites, lofts and villas spread out in tropical vegetation filled with the scent of frangipani trees. A green setting in the city to rest away from prying eyes and a beach of shells. And to attract a clientele predominantly American, Brazilian and French, Dominique Desseigne, the president of the family group, called on Gilles & Boissier, the Parisian interior design studio to whom thewe owe the Mandarin Oriental in Marrakech or the Baccarat hotel in New York.

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Le Manoir de Surville, Normandy, France

Imagine a bucolic landscape, a small Norman village.

In a magnificent setting, the Manoir de Surville is a 16th century historic monument in the heart of a two-hectare garden.

Manoir de Surville / Press photo

Surville, in the Eure, has the advantage of being halfway between the capital and the English Channel. Porte Maillot, in Paris, is one hour away. In the other direction, Honfleur is also one hour away. The ideal arrangement for a Norman weekend in this four-star hotel with a guesthouse spirit. Camille and Hugues Oeyen, the young owners, wanted to bring together the best of both. In the family property, two of the buildings adjoining the mansion have become a hotel with its few rooms, its restaurant… But don't look for the lobby! Here, you are greeted from the car park where you are picked up with a wicker luggage cart. It continues in the large living room, why not on the sofa, in front of a coffee. In this large chic country house, hammam, sauna,swimming lane are accessible at all times, the deckchairs await the guests on the lawn and the bicycles and hot drinks are self-service ... Just like at home, a charming and chic house where there is nothing more than to relax.

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The Grand Control, Versailles, France

The Grand Contrôle gives everyone the opportunity for the first time to sleep inside the National Estate of the Palace of Versailles Renee Kemps

The success of the Grand Control is there. Provoke a journey through time… With subtlety. Because recreating an 18th century atmosphere, without falling into kitsch, is easier said than done. In a profusion of resources, 100 employees for fourteen rooms, costumed staff, without being disguised, period furniture, lighting whose weak intensity is equal to that of a candle, this hotel is exemplary. It gives everyone the opportunity for the first time to sleep inside the National Estate of the Palace of Versailles. Which is not nothing. Protected from attacks from the outside by the thick walls that separate us from ordinary people, we enter fully into the history of France. When we talk about historical reconstruction, back to the past and other nonsense,that blossom in marketing, we expect the worst. At the Grand Contrôle, masterfully managed by an omnipresent management, with an eye for detail, to which is added the know-how of the Airelles hotel group, we discover the best. Great French taste at the service of luxury hotels. It is even almost annoying. We can look for the little thing that is wrong…. We can't find him. At the feet of excellence, we have to lay down our arms: faultless!It is even almost annoying. We can look for the little thing that is wrong…. We can't find him. At the feet of excellence, we have to lay down our arms: faultless!It is even almost annoying. We can look for the little thing that is wrong…. We can't find him. At the feet of excellence, we have to lay down our arms: faultless!

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Como Castello del Nero Hotel, Tuscany, Italy

The Como Castello del Nero hotel and its imposing building dominate its superb 740 hectares of rolling vineyards.

A real postcard from Eternal Tuscany.

Press photo / COMO Castello del Nero

The Castello del Nero is the first establishment in continental Europe of the Singaporean hotel chain Como. Its founder, the businesswoman Cristina Ong, had long sought to establish her home in this Italy, where she cherishes the sweetness of life and the sunny wines. Legend has it that she squinted at this 12th century chateau in the middle of vineyards for ten years before finally being able to acquire it, in 2018, after the death of the previous owner, an American hotelier. After lightning works, the hotel was able to reopen in a new guise in June 2019 but still under the benevolent eye of the century-old trees of the park - including a sprawling cedar of Lebanon and dozens of cypresses - and some of the staff , which the new management wanted to keep.Some have been working here for ten years. Lovers of the place and fine connoisseurs of the region, they give Como Castello del Nero that little extra soul, that Italian charm that does everything and sets it apart from another establishment of a foreign luxury chain which would have been parachuted in Italy.

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Le Bristol Hotel, Paris, France

One of the most famous palaces in the capital has taken advantage of the health crisis to get a makeover and live up to its legend.

Hotel Bristol / Press photo

There are surnames that naturally flap in the wind of excellence. In Paris, the Bristol belongs to this category of hotels, the name of which causes a little thrill of pleasure. The only one with the number of suites superior to the number of rooms. The only one still to have its own mill, which produces more than 80 kg of flour per day. One of the few to have two starred restaurants, a macaroon for one, Le 114 Faubourg and three macaroons for the other, Épicure. Only two owners have succeeded at the head of this extraordinary establishment since its opening in 1925 by Hyppolyte Jammet.

Walking through its imposing lobby, you can fully appreciate this exceptional place which is full of treasures: royal tapestries, busts of sovereigns, engravings and period furniture ... Small masterpieces of French grandeur which belong to the private collection from the Oetker family, at the head of this juggernaut of the global hotel industry since 1971. In a living room with listed woodwork, Joséphine Baker celebrated 50 years of career, while Woody Allen shot his film

in the Panoramic suite.

.

But of all the human legends that have followed one another in this bastion of Parisian life, the cat Fa-raon has the palm of loyalty.

For 10 years, languid on the sofas, this feline has been the hotel's mascot.

If you meet him in the corridors, he has his own "room" in the Lobby, which the children come to visit and disdain to use the cat flap, preferring to wait for the door to be opened wide for him.

Whoever wants to be a palace cat!

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Belmond Cipriani Hotel, Venice, Italy

Located on Giudecca Island, a five-minute boat ride from St. Mark's Square but far from the crowds of Venice, luxurious yet understated, the Cipriani is perhaps the lagoon's spookiest hotel.

Courtesy Belmond

Venerable five-star located on an island in the lagoon, the Cipriani, A Belmond Hotel is one of those addresses whose charm neither time nor notoriety has eroded. An emblem of Venice, like the gondolas or the spritz (sprinkled here with a dash of Select and especially not Aperol). Several figures of the Serenissima roam its gardens, starting with Casanova who coveted, it is said, a donzelle from the neighboring convent. But the most famous is, of course, Giuseppe Cipriani. In his Harry's Bar, near Saint Mark's Square, he concocted the recipe for Carpaccio and Bellini, this cocktail made from mashed peaches and prosecco. Building on the success of his first establishment, in 1958 he opened a hotel on the opposite island. The Cipriani was born.

Acquired by the Belmond group in 1976 (itself under the LVMH flag since 2018), the hotel, next to the Lido where the Mostra is held at each re-entry, is frequented by all Hollywood (George Clooney got married there) and a few

, the only ones capable of taking on the adition, as salty as the water in the swimming pool.

But, for those who can afford it, the charm takes effect as soon as you dock.

Is it the blue and white stripes of the parasols, the smell of roses, the song of crickets, the breathtaking view of Venice?

Surely a bit of all that.

, we are warned at the reception.

We are dying to believe it ...

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