Location Avignon, France

In Avignon’s walled historic center, this former noble family residence dates to 1580 and has been a working hotel since 1775, hosting guests including Salvador Dali, Pablo Picasso, Charles Dickens, Victor Hugo, and Napoleon Bonaparte—who named the hotel. A stately stone façade opens to a courtyard shaded by centuries-old trees, where café tables are tucked beneath the leafy canopy and the hotel’s shuttered windows surround the courtyard. Common areas still feel like a grand private residence: sitting rooms feature sofas and armchairs amid carved woodwork, decorative moldings, tapestry-covered walls and 18th-century chandeliers. The Palais des Papes and Pont Saint-Bénézet are within walking distance.

Overlooking the courtyard, medieval streets or Avignon’s clay-tiled rooftops, guest rooms feature furnished balconies. They have a sitting area, marble bathrooms, air conditioning, Wi-Fi, coffeemaker, and desk. The hotel’s Michelin-starred restaurant highlights Provençal cooking, including poached monkfish with saffron jus and grilled Mediterranean tuna with fennel, eggplant and miso. Meals are served in an elegant dining room with chandeliers, arched doorways, paned windows, brocade-paneled walls and linen-draped tables. Dining is also available in the shady courtyard. The bar is decorated in jewel tones with comfortable sofas, and the hotel offers tea service in the afternoons.

Sourcing restaurant ingredients from producers in Provence reduces the hotel’s carbon footprint. The property incorporates modern climate-control systems for improved energy efficiency.