The Grand Hotel, Bordeaux

In the center of Bordeaux is the Grand Hotel, with old-world traditional interiors.

The walls are covered with drapery-patterned wallpaper, but masterfully broken up with striped upholstered walls in the alcove near the window.

The upholstered walls are edged with braided fabric trim like in the days of Marie Antoinette.

The air-conditioning unit is hidden behind this brass panel, so there is no evidence of clunky modern technology.

I was also particularly intrigued by the old-fashioned brass light switches.

This bedroom is comfortable and cozy, but a little overdone and I wouldn't want to sleep in it every night. For a two-night stay it was perfect.

I have similar tassel tie-backs in my home office, so of course I felt right at home in this room. 

The compact bathroom still had the dated shower-over-the-bathtub set up, but I thought was nicely designed with the modern glass panel until I took a shower.

The panel didn't do a good job of containing the water and the bathroom floor got all wet. They should just fix and seal the glass panel instead of making it swing.

I love old-fashioned cross-handled fixtures. It's what I have all over my house too.

And everything is always better when you have a Nespresso machine in your room with free pods (although I've noticed some hotels now have packaged their pods and are selling them as part of the mini-bar selection. Boo!)

The service of the hotel is just as grand and efficient. We left a jacket in the closet and with one phone call, they mailed it off promptly to an address in Paris.  

The lobby and the restaurant also has old-world interiors. And I remember the breakfast to be quite extensive.

The hotel is also right in the center of the action in Bordeaux.