Paris offers everything from budget hostels near Bastille to grand palace hotels on the Champs-Elysees. The Marais (3rd/4th arrondissements) and Saint-Germain (6th) are ideal central bases. Montmartre suits those seeking a village feel within the city.
Outside Paris, boutique hotels in medieval towns like Sarlat or Carcassonne are charming and often affordable. Provence's mas (farmhouses) and the Riviera's belle-epoque hotels each define their region's character.