The best hotels in Europe: Paris, Amsterdam and more

If Paris hotels had a style hall of fame, Anouska Hempel would take the shining spot. At Monsieur George, the legendary designer brings boutique brilliance to a quiet corner just off the Champs-Élysées. With fewer than 50 rooms, all moody and magnificent, with heavy curtains and arty touches, you’ll feel like part of the chosen elite staying here. Some rooms even come with balconies, perfect for baguette lunches with a view.

But, if food is your thing, then the Michelin-starred Galanga is a serious must. Here youll get seven courses, served with expert flavour. The vibe is relaxed but the service is sharp, with the wine pairing getting more adventurous as the evening rolls forwards. There’s a small spa and gym for good intentions, but honestly, this place is about atmosphere: luxury. There's a sense you’ve found a Parisian secret (even if the Arc de Triomphe is just around the corner).

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Address: 17 Rue Washington, 75008 Paris

Price: From €514 per night, with various seasonal offers for multi-night stays

Closest transport: George V station on Line One of the Metro

Time Out tip: Staff love giving local tips. Ask nicely, and you’ll get the good stuff

What happens when Jazz Age glamour meets English eccentricity with a flash of disco decadence? You get Broadwick Soho, one of Europe’s most characterful luxury stays. Designed by Martin Brudnizki, the hotel delivers proper, hardcore theatrical flair. Modelled on a grand townhouse, it feels intimate and indulgent. The pastel-toned lobby sets a dreamlike scene, while bedrooms dial up the personality with muralled wardrobes and gold-framed TVs that wink at retro opulence.

Residents-only lounge The Nook is a velvet-draped hideaway made for vinyl-spun negronis, and dinner at Dear Jackie brings dramatic Italian dining underground. Up top, rooftop bar Flute serves skyline views. Despite the maximalist aesthetic, service is seamless and attentive throughout. Perfectly placed in Soho, with Tottenham Court Road moments away, Broadwick Soho captures the creative pulse of London, making it not just one of the city’s best hotels, but one of Europe’s most distinctive.

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Address: Broadwick Soho Hotel, 20 Broadwick Street, London W1F 8TH

Price: From €530 per night

Closest transport: Tottenham Court Road tube station is a five-minute walk

Time Out tip: Request a room on a higher floor for the best city views

The first clue that The July – Boat & Co isn’t your average Amsterdam stay? There’s a proper barbershop, buzzing away just inside the front door. Very local. Very cool. Very not your typical hotel lobby. Set right on the water in Houthaven, the city’s slick, climate-neutral docklands district, this aparthotel nails the sweet spot between serviced apartment and boutique stay.

Studios come with fully kitted-out kitchens, generous living space and swivel TVs you can watch from bed or sofa (no judgement). Downstairs, Vessel brasserie keeps things lively with comfort-food classics and knockout cocktails, while free bikes make zipping into the centre a breeze.

It’s calmer than canal-side chaos but just 10 minutes from Centraal by bike, meaning you get waterfront serenity and city buzz. What is not to like?

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Address: Revaleiland 500, 1014 ZG Amsterdam, Netherlands

Price: from €200 per night, with some seasonal deals

Closest transport: 10-minute bike ride to Amsterdam Centraal Station.

Time Out tip: Grab one of the free bikes and go for a ride!

Its name might sound like corporate chain territory, but Grand Hotel Central is anything but standard. Housed in the landmark Casa Cambó building on Via Laietana, this former 1920s skyscraper (once the tallest in Barcelona, no less) blends Noucentista grandeur with slick, urban polish following its 2024 revamp. It’s elegant without being stuffy, historic without feeling museum-like, and somehow still under the radar.

Rooms are timeless and supremely comfy, with excellent soundproofing (a blessing in this part of town) and luxe touches like Carner Barcelona toiletries. Downstairs, Can Bo serves Italian-leaning plates with Michelin-starred backing, while the rooftop delivers knockout Mediterranean views and a small but mighty infinity pool overlooking the Gothic Quarter. Location-wise, you’re steps from El Born, the Gothic Quarter and Barceloneta. For a city packed with five-star hotels, this one still feels like a genuine lucky find.

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Address: Via Laietana, 30, 08003 Barcelona, Spain

Price per night: Starting from around €150

Closest transport: Jaume I metro station (Line L4), under 100 metres away

Time Out tip: Head to the rooftop pool early because loungers are limited.

When you think French Riviera grande dames, you might picture Cap-Ferrat or Monte Carlo. But in Nice, Anantara Plaza is where you'll want to head. First opened in 1848 as the Hotel de France, this Belle Époque beauty has been reborn under the Anantara banner following a glossy 2022 renovation. And seriously, she’s never looked better.

The bones are historic, the vibe is understated glam. Rooms are all creamy tones, panelled walls and king-size beds you sink into gratefully after a day on the Promenade des Anglais. Spring for a garden-view balcony and you’ll wake to palms swaying over Jardin Albert 1er, with a teasing glint of Mediterranean blue beyond.

But the real showstopper is the rooftop restaurant SEEN by Olivier. Sip on a glass of prosecco at breakfast or indulge in sunset cocktails overlooking the Old Town. Or, just spend the whole day up there; you're on holiday, after all. There’s no pool, but with beach-club access five minutes away, who needs one?

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Address: 12 Avenue de Verdun, 06000 Nice, France

Price: Starting from €300 per night

Closest transport: Nice Côte d'Azur airport is a 20/25 minute drive

Time Out tip: The wellness centre here is to die for. Therapists are experts in deep tissue massage, rejuvenating facials and full body wraps using luxury products by Elemis, CHO Nature and Thalion.

Parknasilla is a pretty dramatic scene; the kind that stops you mid-sentence on arrival. Spread across 500 Gulf Stream-warmed acres on the shores of Kenmare Bay, this 1897 Victorian grande dame was built by the Great Southern and Western Railway for well-heeled travellers willing to endure rutted charabanc journeys to get here. Worth it? Absolutely.

Writers fell hard for it. George Bernard Shaw called it a dream world, wandering “between ferns and fuchsias, rock and rhododendrons to burnt out castles lost within the woods.” You’ll want to do the same. Ten mapped walking trails snake through subtropical gardens, beaches and inlets, while guided eco tours uncover baby crabs, eel and warty Venus clams along the shore.

Rooms range from elegant heritage suites (Princess Grace slept here) to vast sea-view balcony suites you could happily move into for a month. Add a heated outdoor infinity pool, a proper thermal spa and sunset dinners in Pygmalion, and you’ve got a self-contained Kerry kingdom.

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Address: Sneem, County Kerry, V93 EK71

Price: Parkland View Room €215 per room per night midweek March and November, up to €389 per room per night mid-July to late August. Offers for longer stays.

Closest transport: Killarney railway station 1hr. Kerry Airport 1hr 15min

Time Out tip: Join the free guided history walk with resident poet Tim Buckle

Ah, Mykonos, the land of superyachts, statement sunglasses and sunrise finishes. And if you want the glamour without the 4am bassline, Kalesma is where you check in. Perched above Ornos Bay, this cluster of Cycladic-white cubes is just far enough away from the drama to gift you an uber-special, relaxing stay.

Suites feel more like private villas, complete with courtyards, outdoor showers and (in many cases) their own infinity pools. Interiors are all tactile woods, marble slabs and earthy tones, with Bond-style TVs sliding out from mirrors for maximum drama. Dining is just as polished: Pere Ubu reinvents Greek classics, while poolside Kuveda does generous, shareable plates.

There’s a serene spa (don’t skip the Barbara Sturm treatments), two infinity pools and Technogym kit for those balancing cocktails with cardio. It’s Mykonos at its most refined: chic, calm and quietly fabulous.

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Address: Aleomandra, 84600, Mykonos, Greece

Price: Starting from around €427 per night

Closest transport: Mykonos Airport, 5km

Time Out tip: Time your evening swim for sunset. You won’t regret it.

At the foot of Monte Pellegrino and facing Palermo’s harbour, Villa Igiea is a high-luxury hotel and living landmark rolled into one. Staying here feels less like booking a five-star stay and more like being an honoured guest in the Sicilian equivalent of Balmoral. This is a place filled with frescoed halls, art nouveau flourishes and harbour views that glow honey-gold at sunset.

That's because this is Palermo’s Gatsby era in physical form. The Sala Basile, with its floral stencils by Ettore de Maria Bergler and original wooden furnishings, is mesmerising; a relic of the Florio family’s glittering parties in the early 1900s. You don’t just sleep here; you have a liaison with history.

Rooms are spacious and serenely Mediterranean, with marble bathrooms and balconies made for a Prosecco tipple. Dining ranges from seafood-heavy aperitivi at Le Terrazze to lobster-laced theatrics at Florio, while the Irene Forte spa is all cool, pistachio-scented calm.

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Address: Salita Belmonte 43, 90142 Palermo

Price: Classic Room from €400 and Superior Suite from €990, price per night for 2 adults sharing on a B&B basis.

Closest transport: 27 minutes’ drive from Palermo Airport, and 10 minutes’ drive from Palermo Centrale (train station).

Time Out tip: Don’t skip the mixology masterclass in the frescoed cellar.

Iniala Harbour House is not a subtle hotel. It’s built around one very clear idea: put guests right on the edge of Valletta’s bastions and let the Grand Harbour do the heavy lifting. And it works. Big time. Spread across a row of restored townhouses, this is high-impact luxury with front-row harbour seats (especially if you’ve bagged one of those traditional wooden balconies).

Rooms (there are just 24) are expansive and design-led, with skyline murals, leather accents and bathrooms positioned so you can soak in Diptyque while boats drift past. Harbour House is the one to book. Add a private butler who actually remembers your sparkling water preference, and you’re firmly in five-star territory.

Up top sits ION Harbour, Malta’s only two-Michelin-starred restaurant, where a 13-course tasting menu pulls off theatrical without tipping into gimmick. Downstairs, the Vault Lounge is all limestone arches and low-lit nightcaps.

Valletta’s best bars are five minutes away, but back here? It’s blissfully quiet.

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Time Out tip: Splash out on a balcony suite. The sunrise over Fort St Angelo is worth every cent.

Address: 11 St. Barbara Bastion, Valletta, VLT 1961, Malta.

Price: Starting from €350 per night

Closest transport: Malta International Airport is a 20-minute drive away

From the outside, Stradom House blends seamlessly into Kraków’s Renaissance streetscape. Inside? It’s a different story. Minimalist stone walls, curved ceilings and muted tones lead into a cosy, art deco-tinged world filled with vintage Polish furniture and more than 70 contemporary artworks. Built on the site of a 14th-century church and monastery, the past seeps through, most dramatically in Hedwig’s, the cocktail bar set inside the former chapel, where a 500-kilogram chandelier hangs beneath vast sloping ceilings.

Rooms lean into that heritage-meets-modern mood. Heritage Rooms mix baby blue and coral palettes with upholstered armchairs, Roberts radios and marble-clad bathrooms stocked with biodegradable touches. It feels homey, but polished.

Then there’s Sól Spa. A 20-metre pool, infrared salt sauna, steam room, cryotherapy plunge and exclusive Alexandra Soveral treatments make it a destination in its own right.

Just 100 metres from Wawel Castle and steps from Kazimierz, Stradom House nails location, history and indulgence in one swoop.

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Address: 12-14 Stradomska street, 31-058 Kraków

Price: Starting from £170 per night

Closest transport: Krakow train station is a 10-minute drive, and the metro stops just outside.

Time Out tip: Seriously, book a table (or at least a cocktail) at Hedwig’s. It is not an experience to miss!