Les Haras

A setting close to the heart of Strasbourg, just across the river from the old city center, doesn’t stop Les Haras from offering a touch of quasi-rural tranquility — along with some of the most distinctive hotel interiors in town. The 18th-century edifice that once housed France’s royal stables has been transformed by Parisian designers Patrick Jouin and Sanjit Manku into a unique and uniquely stylish high-end design hotel.

The rooms and suites are large and feel even larger thanks to the minimalist aesthetic, which incorporates Seventies-inspired colors and a sort of futuristic modernism — a lively contrast with the exposed timbers and other architectural details inherited from the historical structure. The result is nothing if not stylish, but quietly so, and full of a serene and subtle organic warmth.

Meanwhile an expansive Nuxe spa is set in a similarly transformative space, and includes a hammam, a sauna, a 17-meter pool, and an impressively outfitted gym. The most architecturally distinctive space, however, might just be the Brasserie des Haras, an independent operation by chefs Marc Haeberlin and François Baur, serving modern French classics with an Alsatian accent in an artful setting outlined in curving wood.