3 of the Grandest 5 star hotels in France.

Yearly, many thousands of families or groups of buddies leave the towns or even just the climate of northern Europe, and head for a cottage or a country retreat in the relaxing environment of rustic France.

Many of them have their own place to go to, but the majority don't. For them, it's a matter of selecting a place which has been suggested to them, or merely of taking a chance and booking a country cottage somewhere south of the British Channel, in a country that they hope will turn out to be all that it claims.

In France, country cottages are typically called "gites", the old French word means simply a place to lie down, and the 1st French "gites" were kind of just that, reasonably basic accommodation, where you cand get a roof over your head for some nights, for a particularly reasonable cost. Recently , with the coming of second-home owners from other parts of France and Europe controlled by the Brit and the Dutch the gite idea has gone up-market, and as a consequence, today there's really a double market for gites, on the one hand pretty cheap and quite easy agricultural accommodation, and on the other hand reasonably elaborately revived country properties, belonging either to folks who have retired to agricultural France, or to absentee owners who have their property managed by folk living hereabouts. There are also naturally properties in the middle, fairly priced but nicely revived and in engaging locations. To the contrary, the federation was condemned by the French Monopolies commission ( Conseil de la Concurrence ) in March 2006 to a fine of 10 thousand Euro Bucks for "abuse of dominant position" in the market. There are lots of amazing boutique hostels across the country, but if you're looking to remain in the most celebrated French five star hotels, there are some that stand out from the bunch. Found at the foot of the French Alps and on the banks of Lake Geneva, it is set in its 47 acres of ground - few five star hotels in France can boast of so enviable a location. As fast as you walk thru the front doorway, theres little doubt that you are in one of the best ECU hostels, and with eleven eateries, a spa, casino, theatre and its own golfing course, youll never lack luxury experiences to keep you entertained. Found just off the renowned Champions Elysees and near to the Eiffel Tower, the Piazza Athenee has played host to the wealthy and known for nearly a century since its opening in 1911. Among its many fantastic rooms and apartments, the Eiffel Penthouse Suite offers guests shocking perspectives out across the town and the Royal Suite, with just about 5000 sq. feet of floor space, is one of most celebrated rooms in Paris. There's also the standard damage deposit requirement, called in French la caution - though there's no fixed rate. Some owners will accept checks in sterling on a UK bank or in Euros on a French bank. When payment is needed in Eurodollars , this isn't major difficulty even if - as is likely - you don't have a French check book in Euro dollars .