If outside you want a fairytale Chateau but inside you want something modern and stylish then this is the French Chateau for you.

Perched on the border of the Dordogne region, and set in five acres of parkland Château de la Couronne blends its 16th-century heritage with contemporary interiors.

In addition to the design classic interior it also has a private cinema and three kick-back-and-relax salons.

We Say: Fairytale magic. A small gem of a hotel with excellent service.Funky, imaginative and whimsical interior décor that sits beautifully within its classical, French context

Drive east from Avignon and you’re soon in the heart of lavender-growing and distilling country. A good place to start is the peaceful 13th-century Prieuré de Salagon, now a museum  a couple of miles from the pretty village of Forcalquier. The medieval-style herb garden is a riot of colours and scents.

From there, the D6 road runs east across the Plateau de Valensole, a gorgeous 300-square-mile tract given over to the cultivation of lavender. With purple ridges in the background and serried avenues of bushes in front, it’s quite a sight. There are plenty of picnic stops on the plateau, and you’ll find lavender honey on sale at the side of the road.

It’s a short drive to Digne-les-Bains, which has a week-long lavender festival at the beginning of August. The tourist office there can give you a map of the more mountainous terrain north of town, where you can walk through wild mountain lavender. At Thoard, 12 miles away, visit the Distillerie du Siron, where lavender is distilled into perfume. There are free guided tours in season.

Seeko’o Hôtel, Bordeaux, Aquitaine

The Seeko’o Hôtel defies Bordeaux’s traditional accommodation by modelling itself on an iceberg, with a chunky white building and minimalist rooms. It is located right on the banks of the Garonne river, and has a spa with a large hammam, steam room and sauna. There are 45 junior suites, including two rooms with round beds, a terrace and great views of the wharf, and a suite with a wide-angle panoramic view. The bar offers cocktails created by chefs from local restaurants. • Rates from €199 for a junior suite to €390 for the panoramic suite, breakfast €20. +33 5 5639 0707,seekoo-hotel.com

Ecotagnes, Les Villards-sur-Thônes, Rhone-Alps
If you are looking for an eco holiday in France then this might be for you. Not far from Annecy, this forest hideaway has two treehouses on a platform of decapitated tree trunks. The interiors feature lots of wood, soft colours and large bay windows with views of the Aravis mountains. In summer you can dine on terraces in the trees. Owner Patrice is a ski, paragliding, and hang-gliding instructor, as well as a helicopter pilot, and is willing to share his hobbies with adrenaline addicts. Guests can go canyoning, hiking, climbing, mountain biking, horseback riding, and take boat rides on Lac d’Annecy. • From €310 a night for two, including 4×4 transport, dinner and breakfast. +33 6 7002 1014, ecotagnes.co

This hotel, close to Montmartre, is an edgy Parisian love hideaway. Some of the boudoir-like rooms have ruby and black walls, others are lime-green or lilac with wacky modern art. The owner is a graffiti artist , which explains the art and the overall edgy feel. A real love nest.

Hi Hotel, Nice, French Riviera

Hi Hotel is a super-trendy icebox meets a living modern art installation. There are stand-alone baths, bamboo plants, spiral staircases, light projections on the walls of the bar (which attracts top Parisian DJs), and a minimalist overall feel. It also has a cool rooftop pool.

The Château de Bagnols is a grande dame of a building: a 13th-century, painstakingly cared-for castle with important Gothic fireplaces and priceless frescoes. It’s a mini-fortress in a picture-perfect hamlet just north of Lyons surrounded by beaujolais vineyards.

We say:  The château is incredibly sexy and romantic.It’s not the moat and a drawbridge, its antique four-poster beds, the Michelin-starred restaurant or the architectural details heaving with significance (though they all help), it’s the fact that the château feels intimate and discreet despite, on the face of it, being hugely imposing.

Hôtel Le Saint-James Bordeaux, France

There aren’t many hotel rooms that have a Harley Davidson in them but sat atop the motorcyle you  can pretending you are zooming through Bordeaux’s vineyards. You can see the way through the vines from the light wood bed, which is perfectly positioned to look out through a wall of picture windows. If you tire of this stunning view, a press of the button and the shades come down over the window. All 18 rooms and suites have the same vista, some beds built low to look through the vines, others high to look over them, and also taking in the hotel’s sleek pool.

Hotel Le Saint-James is no ordinary hotel, it is a sexy stylish and modern.

Designed by the French architect Jean Nouvel who took his inspiration from tobacco-drying sheds, the metal grille exterior of this hotel, ten minutes from the airport at Bordeaux, rises up starkly from the vines. Inside, there are more treats, most notably in the form of Michel Portos, a two-Michelin-star chef who serves up gastronomic delicacies using locally sourced produce in the restaurant.But nothing beats the Harley — except perhaps the hot-tub suite, at the top of the hotel.