Looking for somewhere chic and stylish to sleep when visiting Paris, renowned for being the most romantic capital of the world?

Check in to the L’Hôtel, the theatrical, ultra chic hotel has been host to many a star including Johnny Depp and is reportedly where the famous Oscar Wilde spent his last days. After a much anticipated makeover from Jacques Garcia, the quirky, quant hotel oozes sophistication. Facilities include a private swimming pool for two and the much publicised restaurant and bar. The boudoirs are beautiful with the choice of staying in the Apartment, the Grande room, the Chic room or the Bijoux and Mignon.

Visit the website, www.l-hotel.com to see it for yourself and enquire into prices.

I’m not a big fan of swimming in the sea. So when I went to Nice this year my only stipulation was that that hotel had a private outdoor pool. I just wanted to chill out in the sun by a pool with a bar close by. Well I quickly discovered that there was lots to see in Nice and the surrounding area so what should have been a few days relaxing turned into a mad rush to see the whole of the cote d azure in four days… I just can’t go to a place and feel like I haven’t seen much of it!

What I did miss out on though was enjoying the facilities of a great hotel. The Radisson SAS Nice is located on Nice’s famous Promenade des Anglais – the road that runs along the sea front. Its a bit further from the town center than many of the other hotels but it offers a bus shuttle service until 6 o’clock (unfortunately after that you have to take a 30 minute walk or get a taxi which can be quite expensive). The hotel makes up for this by being the only residence in the area to offer a rooftop outdoor private pool and restaurant/bar area. The food is great and you can have a lovely evening watching the stars twinkling over the ocean from up high whilst listening to some excellent live music.

The hotel has a gym and some spa facilities – something else which is hard to find in Nice – and bedrooms with balconies overlooking the sea. This is a modern hotel with recently refurbished bedrooms in a vibrant eclectic style…. there was a bright red chili pepper mounted on the wall in our bedroom. You can book a stay at this hotel via lastminute.com

Every year my Christmas is spent at home with the family, why not make it a bit special and a little bit more romantic, in Paris with a loved one? Not that a family Christmas around a fire isn’t just as appealing, but maybe this year surround yourself with a Parisian atmosphere. Visit the Eiffel Tower and the wonderful selection of art galleries or shop on the Champs Elysées and have a romantic meal followed by a romantic walk down the River Seine.

Expedia have some great deals at the moment staying in the heart of the city, priced between £200 and £300, in either three or four star hotels. The Hotel Concorde La Fayette is a four star and looks modern and stylish, with some wonderful views over the city. Prices are around £270 staying from the 23rd of December to the 27th with excellent flights between London Heathrow and Paris.

Visit www.expedia.com to find your ideal Christmas break. After all, we are in need of well deserved break in the holidays!

I visited Les Gets in France with ten friends during January and stayed at the Ferme du Lavay for a week. It was absolutely fantastic apart from the fact there was very little snow – something that doesn’t happen very often in The Alps during January. The chalet is located at the top of Les Get, only a 5 minute coach ride from the main express lift. This was probably the only downside of the chalet – at the top of a long and winding hill it is difficult to get about in the evenings. During the day our chalet host took us down to the lift and picked us up in the afternoon so it wasn’t a problem.

We booked the Ferme du Lavay through Total Ski who run a lot of fully catered holidays. I must admit, this was my favourite part – having a chef cook breakfast, a four course evening meal and a cake in the afternoon every day. That’s right, no cooling on this holiday! Since the chalet was so large and there were 17 guests staying at the time we also had a cooking assistant and a cleaner, all staff worked for Total Ski.

Chalet

The chalet was just as you would imagine accommodation in the Alps to be, it looked like a wooden cabin from the outside and was snug and cosy inside. Ferme du Lavay can sleep up to 24 people therefore you can get a gist of how large this chalet is. There are three floors in total, the ground floor with three bedrooms, the middle floor with a huge lounge area, kitchen, dining area, two smaller bedrooms and a bathroom for these two rooms to share. The entrance to the chalets is also on the middle floor. The top floor consists of three larger bedrooms all with a double bed and at least one single bed.

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