5 Best Hotels in Amboise, The Loire Valley

Like a Rolls-Royce Silver Cloud, this hotel keeps purring along, decade after decade, offering many delights: a romantic twin-tower château, a Loire River vista, tranquil guest rooms (four of the less expensive are in a charming "Pavillon Renaissance"), and an excellent restaurant. Fifty years ago Loire Valley guidebooks praised this domain, and things have only gotten better. Chef Arnaud Philippon's Michelin-starred restaurant is set in two salons, one in brilliant golds, the other lighted with chandeliers and stained-glass windows, lined with tapestries, and spectacularly centered on a neo-Gothic, sculpted-wood fireplace. Be sure to reserve in advance.

Filled with the mystery of the past—this was once the fabled redoubt of the Protestant plotters in the 1559 Amboise Conspiracy—Château de Noizay is fitted out with Renaissance chimneys and salons, a parterre garden, and guest rooms so regal that you may feel like bowing or curtsying to the staff. The adjacent 19th-century "Clock House" is a gracious pastel-hue haven. Noizay itself is a tiny, off-the-beaten-path treasure—don't miss the idyllic countryside hike down Rue François-Poulenc, past the famous composer's pretty 18th-century house, a troglodyte hamlet, and endless poppy fields right out of a Monet painting.

If touring the châteaux of the Loire doesn’t quite satisfy your taste for luxury, come live like a royal at this supremely romantic estate, set among stately French gardens and woods, where even the staff dresses the part. Extravagant even by French interiors star Jacques Garcia’s standard, these sumptuous rooms—named after royal mistresses and queens—sport precious tapestries, original oil paintings, gorgeous antiques, gilded mirrors, and miles of silk damask and velvet, much of it in Garcia’s signature scarlet. As indulgence here is a way of life, the gastronomic restaurant’s multiple courses (served according to 17th-century protocol) equals its lavish decor with a wine list to satisfy persnickety connoisseurs. Spa treatments with sought-after French beauty brands, a sauna, a hot tub and outdoor pool, a 1940’s Morgan touring car and e-bikes at your disposal, and gourmet picnic baskets for romantic escapades complete your royal visit.

An elegant yet laid-back atmosphere defines this stately 18th-century pavilion in the center of Amboise, where airy guest rooms may be done in classic 1930s or contemporary boutique-hotel style; some retain original architectural accents, like exposed beams or heavy wood moldings, and all have refurbished, retro-looking bathrooms. Breakfast can be taken in the salon or on the lovely terrace.