The Eiffel Tower lit up at night, Paris, France
There’s a lot to do and see in Paris France, what with the Eiffel Tower, bicycle tours and the Louvre to enjoy at your leisure. There are also a lot of hotels to pick from. I rounded up the top ten I could find, all with top marks from customer reviews around the web.
Aerial view of the Guanahani Hotel and Spa
Gisele Bundchen
Last time we covered St. Tropez’ Byblos Hotel. And we have another French hotel and celeb hotspot for this week’s Celebrity Hotel of the Week. Smack dab in the middle of the French West Indies is the Hotel Guanahani and Spa in Saint Barthelemy. A fave amongst celebrities such as Naomi Watts, Alessandra Ambrosio, and Jon Bon Jovi, the Guanahani is the finest of luxury hotel resorts.
Located on a private 16-acre peninsula, you’ll find amazing beaches, dining, Creole-styled rooms and suites that’ll blow you away, shopping…it’s all there at the Guanahani, just waiting for your arrival. And talk about some incredible free activities and services!
The luxurious Guanahani
Included with your room stay: free Continental breakfast either in your room or at the Indigo restaurant, canoes and pedal boats, snorkeling, windsurfing, tennis courts, a fitness center, and daytime Kindergarten for children 2-6 years of age. By the way? Kids six and under stay for free. And for a little extra, there’s jet-skis, boat rentals, scuba diving, bars on the beach, and instructors for tennis and windsurfing.
Guanahani Room, Feel like a celeb!
Guanahani Room
The Guanahani has 68 rooms, all in private bungalows with private terraces. There are 34 suites (some with private pools), 24-hour room service, satellite TV with LCD flatscreens, DVD players (DVD library available at the front desk), and free Internet.
Bed with a view, Guanahani Hotel & Spa
Gastronomically speaking, there are lots of good eats around, including Indigo (a wonderful poolside restaurant on the beach) and Bartolomeo (gourmet dining and lounge bar). Scrumptious Mediterranean/Italian dishes at Bartolomeo are faves of Marisa Miller and Gisele Bundchen alike, and you can’t beat a romantic meal at night with the stars overhead.
Guanahani Restaurant
The spa at Guanahani rocks, too. Get a look at some of these views. Steam room, massages, rejuvenation packages. There’s even a salon on the premises.
Guanahani Spa
Rates. Right. Well,depending on the room and the time of year, prices start at 360 Euros (currency converter here) and work their way up from there. A Superior Gardenview Room, for example, is 360 Euros a night during the summer and 915 Euros a night during the Christmas holiday. An Ocean 1-Bedroom Poolside Suite, with private pool overlooking the sea starts at 1,095 Euros in the summer and goes up to 1,655 Euros over Christmas and New Year’s.
Guanahani Hotel, Private Suite Pool
Jon Bon Jovi
But if you’re really going for the celebrity treatment, you can get a suite with butler service! Yeah, baby! The most expensive one – La Villa – starts at 2,800 Euros a day and tops out at 5,700 Euros a day. Think I’ll stay for a month. Or maybe just for 15 minutes, because that’ll only cost me 60 Euros. How much can a butler do in 15 minutes, anyway?
Fine beaches, luxurious rooms, poolside bars, the warm sunny climate…yeah. I can’t wait to get there. Who wants to be my Sugar Mama?
CELEBS SPOTTED: Marisa Miller, Selita Ebanks, Alessandra Ambrosio, Adriana Lima, Gisele Bundchen, Naomi Watts, Laetitia Casta, Stephanie Seymour, Karen Mulder, Yasmeen Ghuri, Jon Bon Jovi.
And if anyone has any tips for hot celebrity hotels, feel free to let me know.
Related posts: The Standard, Los Angeles; The Byblos in St. Tropez.
Prepare to have your breath catch again and again in St. Tropez.
Penelope Cruz on the St. Tropez beach
This week, we go international, baby! If you happen to be in France – more specifically, the beautiful St. Tropez (which is NOT pronounced Saynt Tro-PEZ, by the way) – you’ll definitely want to take a look at the luxurious Byblos hotel. It’s where you might see anyone from Kate Moss to Beyonce to Keanu Reeves.
St. Tropez boasts one of the Top 10 Party Beaches. Drop-dead-gorgeous scenery, tons of world-famous restaurants and clubs, St. Tropez is definitely one of the places that stars love to hang and be seen. And the Byblos is one of the best luxury hotels in town…precisely why Prince Albert II of Monaco chooses the Byblos to wind down from all that, um, royal stuff he does. Suddenly I’m reminded of the Prince-Albert-in-a-can phone prank. Hmm.
Located just 60 miles from the International Airport at Nice-Cote d’ Azur, or a short 11-mile jaunt from the Saint-Tropez airport, the Byblos hotel has been amongst the top 10 hotels in St. Tropez for 40+ years. A full Mediterranean village all in itself, you’ll find dozens of rooms, each individually decorated with a warm, homey vibe. Olives trees and bouganvillea are smattered about the patios and balconies. Sorry, in France, they say “terrace.” You know, because they’re fancy and stuff in France.
Luxurious, intimate dining at Spoon
There’s a charm and elegance all about the Byblos. You’ll find scrumptious food throughout St. Tropez, but you don’t have to leave the hotel to get it. There are two full restaurants: B., a restaurant that is poolside, and the Spoon Byblos, sort of a Mediterranean variant of Spoon Paris. The spa is incredible…just the VIEW will knock your socks off. See for yourself.
Beautiful view from the Byblos spa
Amenities include free wifi (always the first thing I ask about, because I’m a total geek that can’t stand to be disconnected for 5 minutes), fitness center, child care service, pools, air conditioning in every room, jet tubs, turndown service, free airport shuttles, steam room, concierge, room service, and the Caves du Roy discotheque. By the way, pets? Absolutely welcome. Oh, yeah, I’m there.
Every room is unique and inviting at the Byblos in St. Tropez
Oh, right. The rates. This is the part where my head explodes. A single room runs 325-500 Euros, which probably comes out to about $38,000 American, what with our economy running so splendidly. OK, no, not that much. That works out to $500-$720 a night. A Deluxe Room will run you $850-$$1,300 per night. And the Suite Deluxe? $2,250-$3,750 a night.
The decor at the Byblos will relax you
The Riviera Suite? With 2 bedrooms and 3 bathrooms and a private terrace? Don’t even ask because they don’t even list the price on the site. Yeah, I’m so NOT there. Which is a shame because I’d love to hang with Penelope Cruz and Liz Hurley (LOVE her in “Bedazzled”) and Avril Lavigne, who all head to the Byblos whenever they get the chance.
Well, not Avril so much. That “Girlfriend” song still makes me convulse, ugh.
CELEBS SPOTTED AT BYBLOS: Paris Hilton, Kate Moss, Prince Albert II of Monaco, Avril Lavigne, Joan Collins, Beyonce, Penelope Cruz, Kylie Minogue, Liz Hurley, Naomi Campbell, Keanu Reeves
NEARBY RESTAURANTS: Salama, Villa Romania, Grenadine
You might just find Keanu Reeves at the Byblos hotel. There is no spoon.
Nanford Guesthouse, Oxford
I’ve been dreaming of a trip to England, but I keep hearing horror stories about the hotel rooms. First it was that article about the scary things you’ll find in a budget hotel room. Now TripAdvisor has released their annual list of the ten dirtiest hotels in Britain.
Let me tell you, when they say dirty, they’re not talking about porno mags stuffed under the mattresses. If only it was that innocent. But no. Tiny, flithy rooms, where you’ll find other people’s leftover pills on dirty carpets that are never vacuumed by the brutish thugs who run the place. And of course, the blood stains. The horror!
Seven out of the ten are in London, with one each in Brighton, Manchester, and Oxford — home of the Nanford Guesthouse, which has the dubious honor of appearing on the list for the third year running.
Of course, they’ve only had the list for three years.
Just to be fair, TripAdvisor also shares the love internationally, naming the worst hotels in America, Italy, Spain and France.
Which American hotel made the cut? The Hotel Carter in New York City, conveniently located near Times Square. UpTake users give it a big two stars out of ten, so no complaining when you get there and find a dead prostitute in the bathtub.
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