There are hotels, and then there are hotels. The places where staying is just as much part of the experience as the place you’re visiting. Where going to sleep feels like an event, and you have to be lured from the property’s four walls like a grumbling kid to dinnertime. If you really want to take things up a notch, you have the grande dames of the world – the hotels so steeped in history that they exist in a league of their own.

These are the hotels that have survived the annals of time. They’ve had celebrities pass through their doors, often they’ve even had royalty come and spend the night. They are about as far from the local Travelodge as you can get – pure, indulgent bastions of luxury where the world exists through a lens of high thread count sheets, capacious soaking tubs and more duck down than you can shake a stick at. Places where, even if you’re not a guest, popping in for a cocktail and an ogle or a walk around the grounds feels as suitable a tourist activity as any.

From sweeping lakefront estates to gilded cosmopolitan boltholes, these grand dames will have you seeing the world in style. Just don’t forget to swipe the toiletries.

The world's best grande dame hotels

Villa d’Este

Lake Como, Italy

Lake Como is an almost mythical destination. James Bond descended on its glittering shores. George Clooney owns an enormous residence on the waterfront. Every summer, influencers flock there en masse, speedboating across the lake and diving into the crystal-clear water from docks that jut out into the blue. Villa d’Este leans into the glamour of it all, with palatial interiors, four poster beds, chandeliers ripe for the swinging, and – perhaps the pièce de résistance – a pool that sits not just next to, but quite literally on the lake itself. Dive in.

Rooms from £659; villadeste.com

Le Bristol Paris

Paris, France

Celebrating a century of hosting guests this year, Le Bristol opened in Paris in the Roaring Twenties and quickly became an iconic property in the City of Lights. 100 years of hospitality is no small feat – and walking through the doors of Le Bristol, it’s easy to see why it’s lasted so long. The iconic wrought-iron balconies and candy-striped awnings of the exterior give way to classically designed rooms – which supposedly have the largest bathrooms in Paris. Le Bristol was one of the first French hotels to be awarded ‘Palace’ status, and slipping into bed at night you’ll feel suitably like royalty. Pure bliss.

Rooms from £926; oetkercollection.com

De L’Europe

Amsterdam, The Netherlands

One of the oldest family-owned hotels in Amsterdam, Hotel De L’Europe is under the patronage of the Heineken family – yes, really. Occupying part of one of the fortresses of the old city walls, the hotel sits stoically at the mouth of the Amstel River as it feeds into the city and its iconic canals beyond. It’s hard not to be awed by the entrance to L’Europe – its red brick, gothic revival exterior and glitzy, capacious lobby. Deftly balancing old with new, the hotel’s interiors are elevated by sweeping views of the river and the city beyond.

Rooms from £390; deleurope.com

Taj Lake Palace

Udaipur, India

There are grande dames, and there are palaces, and then there are grande dame palace hotels floating in the middle of an expansive lake. Not, in fact, the makings of some kind of aquatic fever dream, Taj Lake Palace – an iconic, ivory-hued hotel in the city of Udaipur – quite literally sits on the waters of Lake Pichola. The former summer palace of the royal dynasty of Mewar, the property was built for its privacy and security and served as a holiday home for the royal family for many centuries until it was converted into a hotel in the 1960s. In its time, the hotel has played host to myriad notable visitors, including Queen Elizabeth and Jackie Kennedy – a guest list that is perhaps the biggest tick of approval for any true grande dame hotel.

Rooms from £340; tajhotels.com

La Mamounia

Marrakech, Morocco

If you were to write formal criteria for what constitutes a grande dame hotel – impressive interiors, sweeping, jaw-dropping architecture, impeccable service and a unique sense of history – La Mamounia would tick every box. A true haven in the bustle of Marrakech, stepping through the doors of La Mamounia is like drifting back in time – to the kaleidoscopic glamour of the 1960s when the world’s creatives flocked to the city like moths to a flame; to the free-spirited 1980s; and the peaceful mystery of the 1940s when Churchill would sit on the hotel’s balcony and paint the Atlas Mountains in the distance. Whether you pop in for dinner or a cocktail at Le Marocain, a nightcap at the speakeasy-style Churchill bar or are staying for a few days of pure luxury, La Mamounia is an experience unto itself.

Rooms from £355; mamounia.com

Copacabana Palace

Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

Built over four years from 1919 to 1923 on the order of President Epitácio Pessoa who wanted a grand hotel to host international guests visiting Rio de Janeiro for the Independence Centenary International Exposition, Copacabana Palace faced a series of setbacks in its construction process and eventually ended up opening just months after the exposition ended. Nevertheless, the hotel’s rocky start hasn’t stopped it becoming an icon around the world – something that was cemented in 1989 when the company that is now known as Belmond purchased the hotel and renovated it extensively. These days, the hotel seems to embody Rio’s sun-soaked, vibrant glamour through its see-and-be-seen pool area.

Rooms from £350; belmond.com

Raffles Singapore

Singapore

You know a hotel is iconic when it’s the birthplace of a classic cocktail that has gone on to be replicated around the world and become an integral part of the modern mixology canon. That’s the case at Raffles Singapore where, in 1915, bartender Ngiam Tong Boon invented the Singapore Sling in the hotel’s Long Bar. Beyond its alcoholic pedigree, though, Raffles Singapore has a storied past – built in the 1830s as a private beach house, the building has been operating as the Raffles Hotel since 1887, weathering two world wars and hosting iconic guests including Charlie Chaplin, Elizabeth Taylor, and Rudyard Kipling.

Rooms from £800; rafflessingapore.com

Alvear Palace Hotel

Buenos Aires, Argentina

After visiting Paris in the 1920s and wanting to bring a slice of the city of love back to his hometown, businessman Dr. Rafael de Miero set out to build the European-inspired Alvear Palace Hotel in Buenos Aires’ swish Recoleta neighbourhood. It took over a decade to complete and finally opened its doors in 1932, quickly becoming place to stay for the rich and famous in the city. From the King and Queen of Spain to Karl Lagerfeld, Walt Disney, Al Pacino, Nelson Mandela and even Rod Stewart, the list of notable guests would just about stretch the length of the hotel. A series of tasteful renovations over the years have brought Alvear Palace up to modern-day standards, while still retaining the timeless sense of elegance that earned international recognition. Expect white-glove service and gilded interiors.

Rooms from £396; alvearpalace.com

Claridge’s

London, United Kingdom

Ah, Claridge’s – if only the walls could talk. Few hotels are so synonymous with luxury the world over, from present-day namechecks in The White Lotus, to serving as the temporary home for Winston Churchill when he was defeated in the 1945 election, the hotel has more stories than a library. Claridge’s is one of those rare establishments where its significance extends far beyond the walls, becoming synonymous with a certain genre of London life. Even if you’re not bedding down for the night, visiting the hotel for lunch at the restaurant, or simply popping in for a martini, it still has the effect of cracking open a door to a bygone era in the capital.

Rooms from £930; claridges.co.uk

The Victoria Falls Hotel

Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe

Few hotels can boast sweeping views of one of the biggest waterfalls in the world from its terrace, letting you settle in and soak up the power of nature while you sip a cocktail – but The Victoria Falls Hotel offers just that. Originally opened in 1904 to serve as accommodation for workers on the Cape-to-Cairo railway, the hotel quickly became a stop-off for many iconic names, and some royalty to boot – including King George VI who stayed at the hotel with his family in 1947. Earning the nickname ‘The Grand Old Lady of the Falls’, the hotel became integral to the development of tourism to the falls, even building a rail trolley to transport guests from the hotel to the falls in style.

Rooms from £321; victoriafallshotel.com