Room service: Hotel de Paris, Monaco

The Hôtel de Paris was built in 1864 and modelled on the Grand Hôtel in Paris. It welcomed the likes of Jules Verne, Alexandre Dumas, Offenbach, and, later on, Errol Flynn, Gregory Peck, Jackie Onassis and Frank Sinatra – who ordered that the lights of the casino opposite be extinguished because they were shining in his eyes.

Today, a good enough reason to stay here is Alain Ducasse's restaurant at the hotel, the Louis XV, where you can taste his masterful spin on Mediterranean cuisine. In the wine cellars, 30 cellarmen watch over 250,000 bottles lying on 1km of racks. However, it's easy to burn off the calories in the fitness room, the magnificent pool and state-of-the-art spa, or on the golf course and tennis courts.

LOCATION, LOCATION, LOCATION

Monaco, that sunny place for shady people, is wedged between the Alps and the Med. The Hôtel de Paris, place du Casino, Monte-Carlo, MC 98000 (00 377 92 16 3000) Book direct on: www.montecarloresort.com

Transport: Taxi from Nice airport takes 45 minutes and costs €80/£50, or make the seven-minute trip with Heli-Air Monaco (see Down Payment, opposite page).

ARE YOU LYING COMFORTABLY?

There are 135 bedrooms, 43 apartments and 19 suites. Access is via a private lift to the two-bedroom Winston Churchill Suite, with its breathtaking views, wood-panelled library, and objets evoking the great man.

Freebies: Hermès toiletries, fruit, champagne in suites.

Keeping in touch: TV, hi-fi, lighting at the touch of a button. Net connections and faxes in suites, on request in rooms. Business centre.

THE BOTTOM LINE

Standard doubles €365-€685 (£233-£437), breakfast €30 (£19). The Churchill suite costs €7,630 (£4,866).

I'm not paying that: The belle époque Hôtel Alexandra has 56 rooms from €89 (£57), bvd Princesse Charlotte (00 377 93 50 63 13; e-mail: hotelalexandra@mcn.com).