Royal Champagne Hôtel & Spa

The old coaching inn at Champillon was rebuilt from the ground up and reopened as a sharply modern hotel that makes a single, obvious argument: every room should face the vineyards. It sits on the escarpment between Épernay and Hautvillers, the village where Dom Pérignon was cellarer, and the view down over the Marne valley is unbroken.

Architecturally the place is all glass, pale stone and long horizontal lines, with private terraces on almost every room. The spa runs over two floors and includes indoor and outdoor pools that appear to spill toward the slopes, plus a full thermal circuit. The gastronomic restaurant holds a Michelin star and the list is, predictably and happily, dominated by champagne - much of it from growers within walking distance.

It works as a base for the grand cru villages of the Côte des Blancs and the Montagne de Reims, and the great houses in Reims and Épernay are both under half an hour away. Paris is a little over an hour by train to Reims.