Les Pres d’Eugenie

Les Pres d'Eugenie is a well kept secret, a 19th-century palace in a somewhat unlikely location, the town of Eugenie Les Bains, a spa town near the Atlantic coast, at the foot of the Pyrénées. Still not exactly famous overseas, it has nevertheless become a favorite of gourmets all over France, due largely to the cuisine of celebrity chef Michel Guérard, one of France's best, who married the hotel's owner and set up shop in the hotel kitchen.

To this day it is still owned by Christine and Michel Guérard, and is renowned not just as a restaurant but as a charming, traditional farmhouse hotel and as a spa, making use of the town's natural springs. The spa's specialty may be an extraordinarily rigid ceramic mud bath, but it's just as famous for the salutary effects of Michel's cooking — his cuisine is improbably low in calories, and guests manage to lose weight while enjoying what may be the best meals of their lives.

And as for the hotel itself, it's all rustic elegance, four-poster beds and antique furnishings, tapestries and rugs, surrounded by magnolias and herb gardens. This is far from a budget hotel, but it's well worth it, as no corners are cut in the hospitality or the cuisine. This is the sort of place one goes to utterly spoil oneself — be prepared for a decadent experience the likes of which you will not soon forget.

How To Get There: Bordeaux and Toulouse airports are within three hours by car, and Pau airport is just 45 kilometers away.