The best hotels in Bordeaux
A trip to Bordeaux is always a good idea, whether you’re visiting the city’s many cultural attractions, like Place de la Bourse and Saint-André cathedral, venturing into the countryside for a weekend of wine tasting or simply stopping over before heading to the seaside – located only 30 minutes from the city centre. The French city's hotel scene is equally varied, with options ranging from decadent boltholes to boutique guesthouses – both options typically located within refurbished 19th-century mansions, preserving their sense of place and authenticity. Then there's the new generation of design hotels that have begun to propagate throughout the city. Below, we’ve rounded up a mix that forms the best hotels in Bordeaux.
Maison La Course
Situated in a 19th-century Haussmann-style mansion located a short walk from the hip Chartrons neighbourhood, Maison La Course feels like you’re stepping into a friend’s bourgeois home with just five bucolic bedrooms, each with its own distinct character. Central to the house is the cosy living room with a fireplace, which opens up to a homey kitchen and interior courtyard, where breakfast is available daily. The wine cellar is also available for bespoke wine tastings for guests seeking an introduction to wines from the region.
Address: 69 Rue de la Course, 33000 Bordeaux, France
Price: Rooms from around £185 per night
InterContinental Bordeaux
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, and packed with colour 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 travellers and locals alike.
Address: 2-5 Pl. de la Comédie, 33000 Bordeaux, France
Price: Rooms from around £243 per night
Villa Foch
Located discreetly within two 19th-century buildings joined together on a tree-lined street in the heart of Bordeaux’s Golden Triangle, Villa Foch’s restored neoclassical interiors feel grand but appropriate. Within the ornate, but intimate lobby studded with modern art and decor, a central stone staircase with wrought-iron rails leads to 20 contemporary rooms, including the hotel’s standout: the 700 square-foot Suite Foch, featuring an elegant bedroom with a separate sitting room and balcony views to the famed Place des Quinconces. Elsewhere on the property, you can enjoy a glass of wine at their wine and cocktail bar, Le Ferdinand, a popular meeting place for locals in the area, and finish the day with a bath and sauna experience in the spa under vaulted stone ceilings.
Address: 25 Cr du Maréchal Foch, 33000 Bordeaux, France
Price: Rooms from around £226 per night
erwan fiquetLe Palais Gallien
An outdoor swimming pool is a rare find in hotels within central Bordeaux, but at Le Palais Gallien its outdoor spaces, including a seasonal pool and garden and rooftop terrace, are not the only draw. Within the walls of this 19th-century private mansion, the hotel features 28 rooms – some with private terrace jacuzzis – a cocktail bar and restaurant serving traditional French cuisine, and a spa featuring an indoor pool, sauna, hammam and treatment rooms.
Address: 144 Rue Abbé de l'Épée, 33000 Bordeaux, France
Price: Rooms from around £253 per night
Villa Victor Louis
In Bordeaux’s historic district of Saint-Seurin, Villa Victor Louis resides in an 18th-century mansion, maintaining its authentic spirit through decorative details that nod to Bordeaux’s rich heritage, such as the wall plates that hang under the glass atrium in the dining room made by the great Bordeaux ceramicist Jules Vieillard, to the rooms, each named after artists who left their mark on Bordeaux, such as Albert Marquet, Léo Drouyn and Francisco de Goya. Guests can take their breakfast or a glass of wine in the patio located within the hotel’s lush garden, before borrowing one of the free bikes provided by the hotel to explore the Golden Triangle, located just a few minutes away.
Address: 42 Rue Rodrigues-Pereire, 33000 Bordeaux, France
Price: Rooms from around £103 per night
.jpg)
Jerome GallandFirstName Bordeaux
The one-year-old FirstName Bordeaux, the first address of the FirstName hotel brand, marks a watershed moment for a city whose main stays reside in refurbished 19th-century mansions, offering a slightly more traditional feel. Here, the bold and modern approach to hospitality is articulated beyond its contemporary design and architecture, but in its various co-working spaces on property, deemed Mind Rooms, which can be booked at an additional cost. Sustainability is another guiding force at the hotel, specifically within the 147 rooms and suites decked in eco-designed and recycled furniture and decor and its locally sourced line of organic and vegan Oceopin products made from maritime pine seed oils.
Address: 14 Rue Claude Bonnier, 33000 Bordeaux, France
Price: Rooms from around £133 per night
L'Hôtel Particulier Bordeaux
Behind the doors of another 19th-century former townhouse is L'Hôtel Particulier Bordeaux. The hotel’s five intimate and cosy guest rooms keep in spirit with the building’s past with their elegant mouldings, patina walls, marble fireplaces and parquet floors, while the apartments, located in the newer part of the building overlooking the courtyard, take a slightly more urban approach, even incorporating modern kitchenettes for guests who require more of an at home feel. As far as location, it doesn’t get much better, with a five-minute walk to reach the main sights such as the Grand Théâtre and Saint-Andre’s Cathedral, as well as shopping on Cours de l’Intendance.
Address: 14 Rue Claude Bonnier, 33000 Bordeaux, France
Price: Rooms from around £133 per night
Gaelle Le BoulicauthotelMondrian Bordeaux Les Carmes
There’s nothing quite like the Mondrian Bordeaux Les Carmes (France’s second hotel opening after Cannes) in Bordeaux. After nearly five years of construction, the hotel opened in the historic district of Chartrons, just outside the city centre. This former renowned 19th-century wine cellar, Maison Calvet, was reinvented under the partnership between French real estate Group Pichet and hospitality company Ennismore. With 97 rooms, it's an ideal nesting place for couples who want to explore both the city and neighbouring vineyards. In the rooms, salient details catch your eye: the camel cashmere throw artfully tossed on the fluffy white bed, the smooth Portuguese Moleanos stone table behind the bed, a gleaming Lavazza coffee machine and half bottles of Chateau Les Carmes Haut-Brion on the mini-bar shelf. Pourquoi? For the sky-high comfort, the indoor pool and spa, the quietly festive convivial ambience and possibly one the finest Japanese restaurants in Europe. Lanie Goodman
Address: 81 Cr du Médoc, 33300 Bordeaux, France
Price: Rooms from around £277 per night