Palace hotels in France: the complete list, from Paris to Courchevel

What the Palace distinction is

The distinction was created by a ministerial order of 8 November 2010 to recognise, among hotels already classified five-star, those that stand apart for their setting, their historic, aesthetic or heritage interest, and the quality of their service and facilities. The first eight hotels received it in May 2011. Atout France, the national tourism development agency, describes it as an official category regulated by the State rather than a marketing label, and notes that very few countries have created an official category above five stars.

The title is awarded by the Minister for Tourism, who can grant it only on the binding opinion of the Palace commission. Its expert members, appointed by the minister (the current ones by an order of 3 December 2024), come from fields including luxury travel, architecture and design, gastronomy and the media, and serve on a voluntary basis. Atout France examines the applications and acts as the commission's secretary. Under the rules in force since 1 October 2024, each award lasts three years instead of five, so every Palace has to apply again, and go through the whole procedure, to keep its title.

How a hotel becomes a Palace

The procedure is set by ministerial order and runs in two phases. First, Atout France checks four eligibility conditions:

• the hotel has been open for at least 24 months, or for 12 months after a complete refurbishment that closed it for a long period;
• it is classified five-star;
• its rooms measure at least 26 m², bathroom included, although up to 10% of them may be smaller;
• it meets the reinforced criteria, optional items of the five-star grid that become compulsory for a Palace, with a single one allowed to be missing.

The file includes the hotel's five-star inspection report and a presentation book, and the hotel undertakes to pay the costs of the visit made by two commission members, a rapporteur and a counter-rapporteur. After that visit, the hotel presents its candidacy to the full commission in a hearing limited to 30 minutes, and the members vote. Only a favourable opinion allows the minister to award the distinction.

Applications are grouped in campaigns: the one that closes on 31 December 2026 will lead to the awards of 2027.

The 12 criteria the commission weighs

Eligibility only opens the door. The commission then assesses each candidate against 12 criteria set by the order. Atout France presents them as a body of evidence: the criteria are weighed together, and the indications given for each are examples rather than fixed thresholds.

• Economic indicators: occupancy, average rate and revenue per available room compared with the average for five-star hotels in the same market, and an average annual staff of at least 2.5 people per room in Paris, or 1.8 elsewhere, relative to occupancy.
• An exceptional location, such as a listed site, a monumental perspective, a UNESCO World Heritage setting, a remarkable landscape or a protected natural area.
• Remarkable architecture, historic or contemporary.
• The size of the hotel and a large share of suites, around 20%, a suite being a room of at least 60 m² or a bedroom with a separate sitting room.
• Aesthetics, space and the quality of the fittings, down to the bed linen, bedding and bathroom products.
• The hotel's history, legend and personality.
• Personalised, fast, precise and continuous service, including round-the-clock concierge, valet, porter and in-room services, and attention to families.
• Excellent food and drink: a gastronomic restaurant recognised by the main international guides, a strong wine list and a bar.
• A unique character, even within a chain, reflected in international guides, luxury labels and guest reviews.
• The involvement of staff in the pursuit of excellence.
• An exemplary social and environmental approach.
• Wider use of digital services and new technology.

How a Palace differs from five stars, MICHELIN Keys and Forbes

Four signals are often confused. Five stars are the official classification: Atout France grants them for five years after an inspection by an accredited body, and more than 540 hotels in France hold them. The Palace distinction is a further title reserved for some of those hotels, awarded by the minister on the commission's opinion and reviewed every three years. MICHELIN Keys are a private selection: the MICHELIN Guide's team awards one, two or three Keys after anonymous stays or visits, independently of official stars and labels. Forbes Travel Guide star ratings are also private: they are published every year after anonymous inspections of at least two nights against up to 900 criteria, with an emphasis on service.

A Palace may therefore hold MICHELIN Keys, a Forbes rating, both or neither. The guide to hotel stars, Palaces, MICHELIN Keys and reviews compares these systems side by side, and what makes a hotel five-star in France explains the grid that every Palace must satisfy first.

The complete list of Palace hotels in France

The table follows Atout France's list of 2 June 2026, grouped by destination: Paris, the Côte d'Azur and Provence, the Alps, then the rest of France. Of the 33, 27 had their distinction renewed after hearings held between March and the end of 2025, and six received it for the first time in 2026. The distinction column gives the month of Atout France's announcement; each award runs for three years. Where Hotel5only publishes a profile of the hotel, the last column links to it.

Where France's Palaces are

The 33 Palaces are concentrated in 16 places. Paris has 13 and Courchevel five; no other town has more than two. Atout France counts nine on the Côte d'Azur and in the south-east, seven in the Alps, two in the south-west, one in the east and one in the Caribbean. There is currently none in Normandy, Brittany, the Loire Valley, Burgundy or Lyon, or on the Atlantic coast of mainland France. Outside Paris, most are ski hotels, seaside hotels or hotels on wine estates.

Palace hotels in Paris

Paris has 13 Palaces, and eight of them are in the 8th arrondissement. Three stand on Avenue George V alone: the Four Seasons Hotel George V, the Bvlgari Hotel Paris and Fouquet's Paris. The Plaza Athénée is on Avenue Montaigne, Le Bristol on Rue du Faubourg Saint-Honoré, La Réserve Paris on Avenue Gabriel and the Royal Monceau on Avenue Hoche, while the Hôtel de Crillon, at 10 Place de la Concorde, occupies an 18th-century residence that became a hotel in 1909. In the 1st arrondissement, Le Meurice faces the Tuileries Garden from Rue de Rivoli, and Cheval Blanc Paris, opened in 2021 in the Art Deco Samaritaine building, overlooks the Seine. The Shangri-La, on Avenue d'Iéna, and The Peninsula, in the former Hôtel Majestic of 1908 on Avenue Kléber, are in the 16th.

The thirteenth, Mandarin Oriental Lutetia, is the only Palace on the Left Bank. It has stood on Boulevard Raspail since 1910, beside Sèvres–Babylone Métro station, with Le Bon Marché just down the street and Café de Flore and the Jardin du Luxembourg within a five- to ten-minute walk. Since every Paris Palace meets the same national requirements, the choice comes down to the neighbourhood and the style of the house. Three joined the list in 2026: Bvlgari, Cheval Blanc Paris and Fouquet's Paris. For the capital's other five-star addresses, see five-star hotels in Paris.

Palaces on the Côte d'Azur and in Provence

The nine Palaces of the south-east are more scattered. On the Alpes-Maritimes coast, the Grand-Hôtel du Cap-Ferrat stands in gardens overlooking the Mediterranean on the Cap Ferrat peninsula, the Hôtel du Cap-Eden-Roc at the far end of the Cap d'Antibes, and the Hôtel Martinez, an Art Deco hotel opened in 1929, on the Croisette in Cannes; the Martinez joined the list in 2026. Château Saint-Martin & Spa is in Vence, in the hills west of Nice. In the Var, Cheval Blanc St-Tropez and Airelles Château de la Messardière are in Saint-Tropez, and La Réserve Ramatuelle is in Ramatuelle. Inland, Airelles La Bastide is in the hilltop village of Gordes, in the Luberon, and Villa La Coste sits among 200 hectares of organically farmed vines between Aix-en-Provence and the Luberon.

Several of these hotels close for part of the year. For 2026, the Saint-Tropez tourist office lists Cheval Blanc St-Tropez as open from 7 May to 11 October and the Messardière from 30 April to 11 October, and the Hôtel du Cap-Eden-Roc's season runs until 18 October. Check the dates before planning an autumn or winter trip. The Côte d'Azur page gathers the coast's five-star hotels, with town pages for Cannes, Antibes, the Cap d'Antibes and Saint-Jean-Cap-Ferrat.

Palaces in the Alps: Courchevel, Megève and Évian

Five of the seven Alpine Palaces are in Courchevel 1850: Les Airelles, Cheval Blanc Courchevel and L'Apogée Courchevel in the Jardin Alpin district, Fouquet's Courchevel on the Bellecôte run, renewed in 2025 under its former name, Hôtel Barrière Les Neiges, and Le K2 Palace. Plan around the ski season. The resort's 2026–27 winter season runs from 4 December 2026 to 18 April 2027; its tourist office lists Fouquet's Courchevel as open from 5 December to 6 April, and in September 2026 the Les Airelles website was announcing the hotel's reopening for the winter. Check a hotel's own dates before planning a summer visit, and compare it with the resort's other five-star hotels in Courchevel.

Megève gained its first Palace in 2026: Four Seasons Resort Megève, on the slopes of Mont d'Arbois, which the hotel places 75 minutes from Geneva airport and presents as a resort for both seasons, with skiing in winter and golf and hiking in summer; as of October 2026 it is closed from 6 September to 15 December. For other options in the village, see five-star hotels in Megève. The seventh Alpine Palace, the Hôtel Royal in Évian-les-Bains, opened in 1909 and overlooks Lake Geneva from a 19-hectare park. The Alps page brings together five-star hotels across the French Alps.

Bordeaux, the Landes, Champagne and Saint-Barthélemy

Four Palaces lie outside the three main destinations. Les Sources de Caudalie, in Martillac near Bordeaux, stands among the vineyards of Château Smith Haut Lafitte, a classified growth of the Graves. Les Prés d'Eugénie, founded by Christine and Michel Guérard, is in the village of Eugénie-les-Bains, in the Landes, where its spa, La Ferme Thermale, draws on the local hot springs. Royal Champagne Hôtel & Spa, in Champillon, overlooks the Champagne vineyards and became the region's first Palace in 2026. Cheval Blanc St-Barth Isle de France, on Flamands beach in Saint-Barthélemy, is the only Palace outside mainland France.

What a Palace stay involves

The eligibility rules show what a Palace adds to the five-star minimum. Apart from a 10% tolerance, rooms must measure at least 26 m², bathroom included, where a five-star double needs 24 m², and at least 10% of the rooms must be suites. A Palace is expected to have a fitness room with at least five pieces of equipment, a spa with at least two facilities such as a sauna, hammam or hot tub, individual rooms for massages and beauty treatments, and an indoor or outdoor pool. Reception is staffed around the clock, room service runs 24 hours, valet parking or a secure car park is available, and staff in contact with guests speak three foreign languages, including English. The list goes as far as shoe care on request, a hairdresser, childcare and a wheelchair for guests who need one.

Because a Palace may miss one of these criteria, confirm any facility that matters to your stay, a pool for instance, with the hotel. Dining weighs in the assessment as well: according to Atout France, the Palaces between them hold seven of the 30 restaurants in France with three MICHELIN Stars.

Before you book: the list changes

The title is reviewed every three years, so lists age quickly. Four hotels that held it before the 2025–2026 renewals are not in the 2026 collection: the Park Hyatt Paris-Vendôme, the Mandarin Oriental Paris, the Hôtel du Palais in Biarritz and the Byblos in Saint-Tropez. All four remain classified five-star in the official register. Of the eight hotels that received the first distinctions in 2011, six still hold it: Le Bristol, Le Meurice, the Plaza Athénée, Les Airelles, Cheval Blanc Courchevel and the Grand-Hôtel du Cap-Ferrat.

A name proves nothing either. The Palace de Menthon, which has stood on Lake Annecy in Menthon-Saint-Bernard since 1906, and Le Palace des Neiges in Courchevel use the word without holding the distinction, while Le K2 Palace does hold it. Atout France's page of distinguished hotels is the reference: it was last updated on 2 June 2026, and applications for the 2027 awards close on 31 December 2026. To weigh a Palace against the rest of the category, browse all five-star hotels in France.