Hotel Avignon la Mirande

Exclusivity does not have to be excluding. Service throughout the hotel, from reception to room service, is attentive and accommodating. Expect the kind of meticulous, white-gloved formality, especially in the restaurant, that has waiters de-crumbing your table between courses and refolding your napkins when you get up to use the bathroom.

The extravagant attention to detail extends to the rooms, where handmade carpets and hand-blocked fabrics on walls recall the affluent and refined aesthetic of the French Pompadour style in the 18th century. There is not a jarring note: TV screens are concealed behind ornate mirrors; windows are made of antique glass. Bathrooms are similarly generous, with floor-to-ceiling marble and luxurious furnishings. All rooms have their own unique character; in the summer ask for those with small terraces overlooking the gardens -- they are by far the most romantic.