Hotel de Paris, Monte Carlo, Monaco

The top MC hotel, whose 2 star Louis XV restaurant is world class and where star gazing from the bottom on the steps is a favoured occupation of awe-struck tourists. Right across from the Casino, the Belle Epoque lobby and American Bar are swanky and impressive, though to get through the doors will need a high degree of assurance if you are not a guest. Upstairs, the rooms and corridors smell faintly institutional, with swirly carpeting and unimaginative repro prints on the walls, chipped furnishings and woodwork. Many of the 196 rooms exhibit huge TVs and, in some, their own wet bars, though everything offered so enticingly is, of course, extra - drinks, film, water - in this city of Mammon. Floral patterning predominates, but the overall feeling is tired. The rooms are well proportioned, with mosaiced floors in the impressive bathrooms, most with separate showers. The room rates include free entrance to the Casino. The courtyard views are cheapest, with the seaview rooms being generally smaller, but with balconies. Clientele is predominantly Italian and American.