Facing the opera house on one side of Bordeaux's grand central square is an 18th-century townhouse turned five-star hotel that goes by the name of Le Grand Hotel. All 130 rooms and suites are drenched in rich mauve, burnt orange and gilt that wouldn't look out of place in Marrakech, but actually, you're in the heart of the city. On the ground floor, there's a two-Michelin-starred kitchen and on the fifth, a Guerlain spa with a full roster of spectacular treatments. You're a few minutes on foot from Place Gambetta, the shops of Cours de l'Intendance, and the tram. But at this address, you may just never want to leave...
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Inside, iconic designer Jacques Garcia's fingerprints are everywhere: Napoleon III armchairs, heavy silk drapes and lighting kept deliberately low in the dining rooms. The Guerlain spa (with a relaxation pool, hammam, sauna, eight treatment rooms, and a summer-season outdoor jacuzzi) takes up the whole fifth floor. Food-wise, two-Michelin star Le Pressoir d’Argent takes the top spot, whilst L'Orangerie's English-inflected bar is all about fireside drinks and small plates and Brasserie Le Bordeaux offers more relaxed dining.
Room categories run from cosy Classic Rooms up through Premium Rooms with balconies or Opera views, Junior Suites, and a wow-inducing, 100 square-metre Royal Suite complete with an elegant marble-and-gilt bathroom. Garcia's fabrics and carpets feature throughout, mauve here, burnt orange there, never quite the same twice. Ask for a Wine Bar Suite if you want a private bottle within reach of the bed, or a Junior Suite with Opera View if the theatre outside matters more than the wine.
Step out and the Miroir d'Eau, the world's largest reflecting pool, is five minutes away, just in front of the eighteenth-century Place de la Bourse. Rue Sainte-Catherine, with over a kilometre of pedestrianised storefronts, is the perfect spot for a little retail therapy. Head north and you're in the Chartrons, the old wine-merchant quarter where rue Notre-Dame's antique dealers and the Musée du Vin et du Négoce draw people in. The Cité du Vin, that swirl of gold glass on the Garonne, is a few stops up the tram line, worth a visit for the belvedere tasting room at the top.
The theatre of the restaurant! A solid silver lobster press, one of only five Christofle ever made, still presses blue lobster for their juices, table-side, every evening.
Time a night here with something on at the Grand Théâtre. You can walk across the square in under a minute, which is a rare pleasure.
Rooms vary a great deal because the hotel is stitched together from several old buildings, and the entry categories are a little on the tight side.
InterContinental Bordeaux - Le Grand Hotel can be booked with Timbuktu as part of a tailor-made France trip, rather than as a standalone room reservation. Start online, customising one of our recommended France trips featuring InterContinental Bordeaux - Le Grand Hotel or get advice and suggestions from one of our France specialists who will design the trip around your dates, check availability and handle every booking for you.
Stays at InterContinental Bordeaux - Le Grand Hotel start from around $310, or US$310, per person per night as part of a tailor-made trip. The exact price depends on your travel dates, room type and the shape of the rest of your itinerary. A Timbuktu travel specialist can give you an accurate quote for your dates.
Grand, neoclassical streets, canelés hot from the oven and some of the world's finest wine.
