The Best Hotels in France for Unwinding

A forest perched two hours from Paris, a castle nestled on the shore of a lake, a former cooperative winery converted into a loft, a mountain retreat at 1,850 meters: all across France, the hospitality industry has made “unplugging” an art form. Here are 10 Places to Really Unwind : Turn off the Wi-Fi, slow down, rediscover silence—from Touraine to the summit of Mont d’Arbois.

Loire Valley Lodges: A High-Altitude Getaway in Touraine

No TV, no Wi-Fi in the lodges: at 2 hours from Paris, Loire Valley Lodges has made digital detox its founding principle, and it is undoubtedly France’s most successful digital detox destination for a weekend in nature near the capital. South of Tours, 21 lodges, each measuring 35 m², are perched four meters above the ground, built on stilts made of Douglas fir, chestnut, and oak—the very same tree species found in the 300-hectare private forest that surrounds them. Each lodge features a 25-square-meter terrace with a private spa, and each has been entrusted to an artist—such as JonOne or Aurèle—who has transformed it into a living art gallery.

In the morning, sunlight filters through the branches of this incredible private forest; you hear birdsong instead of an alarm clock, and you walk through the herb garden, where cilantro, basil, and thyme fill the air with their fragrance just a few steps from the kitchens. At the Ardent restaurant, the menu draws on ingredients from the forest, the vegetable garden, and local producers, creating dishes that taste as if they were picked that very day. As for the rest, you can swim in the 20-meter pool—open from May through October—treat yourself to a massage with oils from the forest, or enjoy a forest bath, the famous Japanese “shinrin-yoku.” This is a spa hotel near Paris where you come for nature, not for luxury.

What makes the difference? You’ll be assigned one of the 21 guardian trees in the forest—your very own tree, which you can visit on every stay, and from which you can even take home a sapling.

Loire Valley Lodges
1 Duporterie Alley, 37320 Esvres-sur-Indre
21 rooms, starting at 290 euros per night

Domaine de la Bretesche, the Breton castle and golf course

As you pass through the wrought-iron gates, the driveway winds its way beneath the trees, and a 15th-century castle stands on the shore of a lake: at the gateway to Brittany, the Domaine de la Bretesche is one of the most beautiful 5-star hotels in the region. This Relais & Châteaux property has transformed the former outbuildings into guest rooms, suites, and villas, redesigned by Stéphanie Decurey to blend restored wood paneling with contemporary touches. It is situated on the edge of 200 hectares of forest in the Brière Regional Park, 2 hours and 40 minutes from Paris by train (4 hours by car).

The main attraction here is golf: an 18-hole course measuring 6,015 meters, designed by the Englishman Henry Cotton in 1967, which winds its way through century-old oak trees and past a pond, with the castle in full view. The first tee is just a few steps from the hotel’s exit—a true luxury. For wellness, the Spa de la Cour Carrée offers Cinq Mondes and Omnisens treatments around a long indoor pool under a glass roof, which opens onto a heated outdoor pool on sunny days. Chef Filipe Silvestre, originally from Portugal, runs the brasserie Le Club, featuring vegetables from the permaculture garden and the finest local Breton produce. Enjoy an aperitif at the Bar des Écuries, located in the former stables. For a romantic getaway or a weekend in the countryside, book a table at sunset, when the golden light streams through the floor-to-ceiling windows overlooking the lake. 

What makes the difference? A family-run inn where regulars have been coming back for years, with a golf course right on the doorstep and peace and quiet that sets in as soon as night falls.

Domaine de la Bretesche
44780 Missillac
40 rooms, starting at 301 euros per night

Les Sources de Cheverny, the chic hamlet at the foot of the castles

Located between Chambord and Chenonceau, Les Sources de Cheverny is one of the best hotels for a relaxing stay near the châteaux of the Loire Valley. Alice and Jérôme Tourbier, the founders of Les Sources de Caudalie in the Bordeaux region, have transformed the Château du Breuil—an 18th-century estate—and the surrounding farmhouses into a hamlet of 49 rooms, blending historic stone with contemporary wood. Guests can stay in a chateau-style suite with creaking wooden floors or in a cottage perched on stilts facing the pond.

In the morning, we slip on the rubber boots lined up at the entrance to go for a walk in the Sologne Forest, then head over to the Caudalie Spa: under a wooden roof, featuring a relaxation pool, a hammam, and outside, an oak hot tub filled with warm thermal water. The outdoor pool, over 20 meters long, stretches to the edge of the trees. At the table, Chef Pierre Frindel—who has worked at Robuchon, Gagnaire, and Les Sources de Caudalie—creates Michelin-starred cuisine at Le Favori that highlights the local flavors of the Loire Valley and Sologne. L’Auberge, awarded a Bib Gourmand, features a wood-fired rotisserie. For nearby attractions, Chambord is 20 minutes away and Chenonceau 30: it’s hard to find a better base camp in the entire Loire Valley.

What makes the difference? The estate’s signature wine, an organic Cour-Cheverny made from the seven hectares of Romorantin grapes grown on the estate—perfect to pack in your suitcase.

The Sources of Cheverny
23 Fougère Road, 41700 Cheverny
49 rooms, starting at 290 euros per night

Domaine du Roncemay: The Burgundian Countryside and Its Spa-Laundry

An 800-square-meter spa designed to resemble a Burgundian washhouse, featuring water, stone, and light: this is where a stay at the Domaine du Roncemay begins. 1 hour and 40 minutes from Paris, departing from the Burgundy Wine Route, a Burgundian manor house and a small 19th-century château share 140 hectares of forest between Joigny and Auxerre. The 23 newly renovated rooms feature a blend of Burgundian stone, solid wood, heirloom furniture, and headboards crafted by a local upholsterer.

The spa features five treatment rooms, an indoor pool with a sensory experience, a sauna, and a steam room, all set in a space where water takes center stage. Outside, an 18-hole course stretching over 6,000 meters—founded by international golfers Jean Garaïalde and Jeremy Pern—winds through oak, beech, and birch trees in the style of Scottish links courses. At mealtime, chefs Clément Vergeat and Marine Mateos have recently taken the helm of the estate’s cuisine, from the bistro to the Michelin-starred gourmet restaurant ERRE. People come here to leave it all behind: to walk for kilometers along marked trails, to lounge by the pool, and to let life take its course.

What makes the difference? A spa designed to resemble a washhouse, where the connection to water serves as the central theme of each day.

Roncemay Estate
Boisserelle, 89110 Chassy
23 rooms, starting at 139 euros per night

Domaine des Andéols: Art and Relaxation in the Luberon

A 400-year-old plane tree shelters the restaurant, and the entire Domaine des Andéols seems to be arranged around it. Perched on the hills above Saint-Saturnin-lès-Apt, just a few minutes from Gordes and Roussillon, this Luberon hamlet features eight Nature Suites and eleven standalone cottages spread across some thirty hectares of olive groves, vineyards, and lavender fields, each offering its own slice of Provence and, in some cases, a private pool.

The place is as much a gallery as it is the hotel : Paintings, sculptures, drawings, and designer furniture fill every home, arranged as if in a collector’s residence. You spend the day doing very little: a dip in the infinity pool facing the hills, a treatment in the spa, a yoga session, a nap in the shade. Chef Aurélien Egger, who previously worked at Pierre Gagnaire, showcases the vegetable garden at Le Platane, where Provençal cuisine is savored as the sun sets. Silence, space, time that stretches on: that’s the promise—and it’s delivered.

What makes the difference? Houses with names rather than numbers, each one a world unto itself—you’ll want to try them all.

Domaine des Andéols
Les Andéols, 84490 Saint-Saturnin-lès-Apt
19 rooms. Starting at 325 euros per night

La Bastide du Mourre, a wellness retreat across from Oppède

Dry-stone walls, olive trees, the song of cicadas in the garrigue: on a hill overlooking Oppède-le-Vieux, La Bastide du Mourre embodies a slower-paced Provence. This 17th-century bastide, now a guesthouse in the Fontenille Collection, has made reconnecting with nature its sole focus, just a few minutes from Gordes and Roussillon.

About fifteen rooms decorated in cream tones, with antique furniture, linen bedding, and spaces bathed in light: nothing is flashy, everything is soothing. The week unfolds at a wellness program Designed for movement without pressure: yoga at sunrise, Pilates, treatments by On The Wild Side, hikes through the garrigue. The table d’hôtes, served on a terrace overlooking the hills, features market-fresh dishes: solar-cooked cuisine for lunch, a Provençal menu for dinner. People come here as if they were going on a retreat: to truly unwind, go to bed early, walk a lot, and remember just how restful silence can be.

What makes the difference? A fee included in the stay, which is donated to neighboring farms and vineyards and goes toward the protection of the Luberon Regional Nature Park.

La Bastide du Mourre
84580 Oppède
17 rooms, starting at 250 euros per night

Domaine Riberach: Staying in a Catalan Wine Cellar

In 1925, this was the Bélesta cooperative winery, where the village brought its grape harvest. Today, Domaine Riberach has built its guest rooms into and above the old wine vats, without detracting in any way from this industrial cathedral. Located 25 minutes from Perpignan, at the foot of a medieval castle in the Pyrénées-Orientales, the ecolodge embodies a philosophy of taking things slowly down to the very last detail.

18 spacious rooms, a spa housed in five vats, a natural pool filtered by plants, buildings heated by geothermal energy, and vineyards cultivated without pesticides: the commitment to the environment isn’t just a selling point—it’s the very foundation of the place. In the kitchen, Chef Dennys Teixeira leads La Coopérative—awarded a red and green Michelin star—serving seasonal cuisine made with locally sourced ingredients. In the summer, Cargol’21 serves charcoal-grilled dishes on the terrace overlooking the vineyards. Sipping a glass of the estate’s wine, dining beneath the metal roof trusses, sleeping in a wine vat: the experience is as unique as it is relaxing.

What makes the difference? A pool filtered by plants, which requires anyone who wants to swim in it to use organic sunscreen.

Riberach Estate
2 Route de Caladroy, 66720 Bélesta
18 rooms, starting at 154 euros per night

Casa Pertica: La Dolce Vita in the Perche Region

A slice of Italy nestled in the Perche region: in Ceton, 150 kilometers from Paris, Casa Pertica embodies la dolce vita amid a wooded park within the regional nature park. Kimberley Artifoni has transformed the property into three charming cottages and a suite, blending exposed beams, solid oak flooring, and Tuscan-inspired bathrooms.

The house feels like a private retreat all to yourself: a bucolic garden, a wooded area to stroll through, a heated pool for sunny days, an honesty bar, and everything you need to relax and unwind: yoga mats, meditation, and in-home spa treatments and massages. When it comes to dining, the family-run trattoria in Nogent-le-Rotrou serves Italian cuisine made with ingredients sourced directly from Italy. Reading, slowing down, dining late, following only your whims: everything here encourages you to breathe more slowly and reconnect with the rhythm of your days, far from screens.

What makes the difference? The Italian spirit right on your plate—just two hours from the capital, yet a world away from it.

Casa Pertica
3 Impasse Saint-Nicolas, 61260 Ceton
4 rooms, starting at 171 euros per night

Domaine Le Mouflon d’Or: Corsica’s Inland Region

At the foot of the Aiguilles de Bavella, in the village of Zonza, the Domaine Le Mouflon d’Or reopened in 2025 in an 18th-century aristocratic mansion set amid 19 hectares of Lebanese cedars and century-old chestnut trees. This is inland Corsica—the land of the maquis and the mountains—within the Southern Corsica Regional Nature Park, just 40 minutes from the beaches.

The interior exudes casual chic: light-colored marble, crystal chandeliers, antiques, and vintage finds all reflect Corsican heritage. There are 25 rooms and suites, featuring exposed-beam ceilings and large windows overlooking the park. The height of luxury is the Nucca Spa, with its 1,200 m² dedicated to wellness—a place you’ll gladly retreat to after a day of hiking. Dine at the gourmet restaurant, enjoy a cocktail at the pool bar at sunset, and drift off to sleep amid the silence of the mountains. The GR20 hiking trail passes just a few kilometers away, and Porto-Vecchio is about forty kilometers away: choose your own pace—whether you prefer the peaks or the coast.

What makes the difference? A 1,200-square-meter spa nestled in the Corsican mountains, a world away from the island’s bustling seaside resorts.

Le Mouflon d’Or Estate
20124 Zonza, Southern Corsica
25 rooms, starting at 398 euros per night

Le Refuge Chez La Tante: The Ultimate Getaway

You can’t drive here. Perched at 1,850 meters on Mont d’Arbois, between Saint-Gervais and Megève, Le Refuge Chez La Tante is accessible only by gondola—and that’s the whole point. When the last lift closes and the last skier heads back down, the mountain empties out: all that’s left is you, 20 rooms, and silence.

This luxury retreat, open in both winter and summer, reimagines the spirit of traditional mountain cabins with solid wood, woolen textiles, felted fabrics, and vintage finds. Wellness is provided by a 40-square-meter indoor pool crafted entirely of wood and stone, a sauna, and a steam room infused with alpine essences. Other amenities include a bar with a fireplace and even a bowling alley. At the restaurant, Chez La Tante, the focus is on charcoal-grilled dishes: grilled meats, roasted vegetables, and slow-cooked dishes prepared over a wood fire, all featuring the finest ingredients from Haute-Savoie. Here’s the real treat: strapping on your skis right outside your room and carving your first turns into the virgin snow before the resort even wakes up.

What makes the difference? Sleep where the trails end, and wake up alone, facing the vast expanse.

Le Refuge Chez La Tante – Mont d’Arbois
4284 route des Crêtes, 74170 Saint-Gervais-les-Bains
20 rooms, starting at 190 euros per night