3 Best Hotels in Toulouse and the Languedoc, France

A stay at this sprawling family-owned wine estate, located between Narbonne's city center and its beaches, is like a course in the art of Mediterranean living complete with surrounding vineyards, sea breezes, an immense wine-tasting cellar, organic kitchen garden, and resident artist studios. Although the individual rooms breathe standard hotel, the grounds and restaurant ooze southern French luxury. Don't miss its annual Jazz à l'Hospitalet Festival, with top-selling jazz artists playing on the premises.

Enjoying the finest location within the walls of the old city, this ivy-covered former Episcopal palace provides a high level of creature comfort, which the ascetic Cathars would most definitely have deprived themselves of. Antique-tile floors, afternoon teas, and the sumptuous La Barbacane restaurant (presided over by Michelin-starred chef Jérome Ryon) help make this the spot for visiting celebrities. Tea is served in the library bar or the rotunda lounge, amid detailed woodwork and leaded windows; formal dinners in La Barbacane, with its double-vaulted ceiling and ogival windows, are quite an event. A pool in the garden beckons on hot days.

Formerly the home of Pierre Richer de Belleval, the creator of the Jardin des Plantes, this 17th-century urban mansion is now an elite hotel offering luxury designer rooms with stunning bathrooms, terrazzo floors, and crystal chandeliers. Dining options include Le Jardin de Sens, a Michelin-starred restaurant spearheaded by the Pourcel brothers, as well as the glass-roofed La Canourgue for more casual dining. You can also enjoy a cocktail in the opulent bar with its boldly decorated ceiling.