Best hotels in Hilltop Villages of the French Riviera

In the hills above the pretty village of Vence, amid the warm cypress and cicada song drifting on the breeze, Château Saint-Martin & Spa claims the best patch of hillside. Once a site guarded by Roman sentries and then fortified by the Knights Templar, a stretch of old wall, a chapel and part of the drawbridge still stand in the gardens today. Today, the hotel is lighter and brighter but still undeniably French (undeniably Provençal, in fact) and the chateau-style building is one-of-a-kind. Surrounded by acres of natural beauty, it's a wonderful place to just be for a few days, Cannes one way, Nice the other, and olive groves tumbling down in between.