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There are 31 Palace hotels in France
In 2010, France’s Ministry of Tourism introduced a new category of hotel that would be recognized as better than 5 star: Palace Status. If you see this demarkation on the outside of a hotel, rest assured, you are staying in the very best of the best. In fact, only 31 hotels across the whole of France have earned the honor. While 5 star hotels offer bilingual services, spa facilities, concierge, etc – Palace hotels offer those certain “je ne sais quoi” factors such as history of the hotel site, environmental policy, character, et al. Check out the list, and you’ll certainly see that it is chalked full of the most famous and esteemed hotels France has to offer, and unless I’m overlooking one, the only redeemable with points is the Park Hyatt Paris.
The 31 hotels currently deemed “Palace” worthy:
- Hôtel du Palais – Biarritz (Pays Basque)
- Hôtel Le Park Hyatt Paris Vendôme – Paris
- Both of these hotels are bookable with Hyatt points
- Hôtel Les Airelles – Courchevel (Alps)
- Hôtel Berrière Les Neiges
- Hôtel L’Apogee – Courchevel
- Hôtel Le Cheval Blanc – Courchevel (Alps)
- Hôtel Le Bristol – Paris
- Four Seasons Hotel George V – Paris
- Hôtel Lutétia – Paris
- Hôtel Le Meurice – Paris
- Hôtel Le Plaza Athénée – Paris
- Hôtel Le Grand-Hôtel du Cap-Ferrat, a Four Seasons Hotel – Saint-Jean-Cap-Ferrat (Côte d’Azur)
- Hôtel La Réserve – Ramatuelle (Provence)
- Hôtel Le Byblos – Saint-Tropez (Provence)
- Le Château de La Messardière – Saint-Tropez (Provence)
- Le Royal Monceau – Paris
- Shangri-La Hotel– Paris
- Mandarin Oriental – Paris
- Hôtel Le K2 – Courchevel (Alps)
- La Réserve Paris – Paris
- The Peninsula – Paris
- Le Royal Evian – Evian-les-Bains (Alps)
- Le Cap-Eden-Rock – Antibes (Côte d’Azur)
- La Bastide de Gordes – Gordes (Vaucluse)
- Les Sources de Caudalie – Martillac (Gironde)
- Les Prés d’Eugénie – Eugénie-les-Bains (Landes)
- Cheval Blanc St-Barth Isle de France – Saint-Barthélémy Island
- Byblos Saint-Tropez
- Château de la Messardière – Saint Tropez
- Château de Saint-Martin & Spa –Vence
- Villa La Coste – Le Puy-Sainte-Réparade
How does a hotel gain Palace status in France?
It’s a two phase process whereby the ministry of tourism awards the distinction:
Booking the Park Hyatt Paris or Hôtel du Palais Biarritz with World of Hyatt points
If you’re looking to score a deal, search for the Park Hyatt Paris in calendar mode. Remember both Chase Ultimate Rewards and Bilt Rewards are transfer partners of Hyatt and 35k would be the off peak rate at category 8 hotels.
Personally I love visiting Paris in the winter – the temps don’t get too cold, the city is gorgeously dressed for Christmas, and it’s far less touristy. Just be prepared for some cloudy days, sporadic rain or even some snow.
And here is the Hôtel du PalaisBiarritz which is a category 7 hotel… starting late October through Feb 25k a night. You will find 30k nights in June/Sept as well.
Opinions, reviews, analyses & recommendations are the author’s alone, and have not been reviewed, endorsed or approved by any of these entities.
Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card
Welcome Offer
Earn 60,000 bonus points after you spend $4,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening.
Annual Fee
$95
Points Earned
Transferrable Chase Ultimate Rewards
- 5x on all travel purchased through Chase Travel℠
- 3x on dining, including eligible delivery services for takeout & dining out
- 3x on select streaming services
- 3x on online grocery purchases
- (excluding Target, Walmart and wholesale clubs)
- $50 Annual Chase Travel Hotel Credit via Chase Travel℠
- The begins immediately for new cardmembers and after your account anniversary for existing cardmembers
- 2x on all other travel
- 10% Anniversary Bonus
- Every year you keep the card, your total spend will yield a 10% points bonus. If you spend $10k in a year, you’ll get 1k bonus points
- Chase Sapphire Preferred continues to redeem at 1.25c in the Chase Travel℠ and the slew of other benefits remain in tact including Auto Rental Collision Damage Waiver ( primary ), purchase protections, etc.
- Points are transferrable to 14 Ultimate Rewards partners
- Redeem in Chase Travel℠ for 1.25 cents per point
- No foreign transaction fees
- Suite of Travel and Purchase Coverage
- Auto Rental Collision Damage Waiver is my favorite
- Get complimentary access to DashPass which unlocks $0 delivery fees and lower service fees for a minimum of one year when you activate by December 31, 2027.
- $95 Annual Fee
We keep an up to date spreadsheet that lists the best ever offers: You can find that spreadsheet here.
Historically 80k is a very, very good offer and hit in both 2022 and 2023. In 2021, we saw the offer hit an all time high of 100k. Who knows if that will ever come back.
Main Cast:
Cards that earn flexible points and should be used on the bulk of your purchases.
Supporting Cast:
Cards that earn fixed points in the currency of the airline/hotel and can not be transferred at attractive rates. These cards yield benefits that make it worth keeping, but not necessarily worth putting a lot of your everyday spend on.
The Chase Sapphire Preferred® is exceptional starter card and offers transferrable Ultimate Rewards, and pairs well with other Chase cards.
If you carry this card alongside Chase’s cashback cards like the Chase Freedom Flex® and Chase Freedom Unlimited® or the business versions: Ink Business Cash® , Ink Business Unlimited® you can combine the points into Preferred account and transfer into hotel and airline partners
Annual fee is quite low at $95 a year + you get a 10% anniversary bonus on points + $50 hotel credit in Chase travel.
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