InterContinental Bordeaux - Le Grand Hotel, an IHG Hotel

"Smack in the middle of the city, the 130-room InterContinental Bordeaux - Le Grand Hotel is a reliable high-end bolthole and the ideal entry point to much of the city's main attractions. Rooms are as you’d expect in an InterContinental: capacious, modern, and comfortable, packed with color and character reflective of the city. The hotel’s upmarket allure is further articulated through its five-star offerings, like at Le Pressoir d’Argent, the hotel’s two-Michelin-star restaurant helmed by the Gordon Ramsay group and highlighting regional foods and wine pairings, as well as at the Guerlain Spa, located on the fifth floor, featuring a relaxation pool full of ambience, a sauna, hammam and various treatment rooms. Higher up, the rooftop bar features some of the best panoramic views of the city, thus serving as an evening hotspot for travelers and locals alike." - Monica Mendal

"Opposite the magnificent eighteenth-century Grand Théatre, the 150-room Regent Grand perfectly mirrors the aristocratic elegance of this lovely city, thanks to the exquisite interiors of designer Jacques Garcia. Black-lacquer wrought-iron lamps with pleated silk shades soften the reception area, which is furnished with striped-velvet barrel chairs and potted palms, and rooms are done in pretty nineteenth-century damasks and wallpapers, with reproduction Napoleon-something furniture. The signature restaurant, Le Pressoir d’Argent, is a stunner with a rocaille decor (seashells set into elaborate plaster moldings) and a sublime seafood menu. There’s also a lively wine bar, a brasserie that provides great people-watching from the sidewalk terrace, and the promise of a full-service spa. It became an InterContinental in early 2016."