Rustic charms

Head to one of these French boltholes where you can relax and recharge

Doubles at

Ile de Ré, from £187 per night, excluding breakfast (villa-clarisse.com). Doubles at

1. CLARISSE, VILLA

2. HOTEL CRILLON LE BRAVE,

Provence, from £300 (crillonlebrave.com) HARBOUR-FRONT L’hôtel de Toiras in Saint-martin-de-ré may be the most famous place to stay on the French island of Ile de Ré, with its fantastic gourmet restaurant and richly upholstered armchairs, but personally, in summer, I would much rather stay at its low-key sister hotel, Villa Clarisse. Hidden away in a quiet residential area, a five-minute walk up pretty cobbled streets from the harbour, the whitewashed hotel feels far more appropriate in this beachy seaside setting. Designed by Pierre-yves Rochon in a simple, contemporary style mixed up with the odd antique armoire, Villa Clarisse is housed in an 18th-century mansion, where the 19th-century general Ferdinand-auguste Lapasset was born. Its nine elegant bedrooms – including two suites with separate living rooms – are spread around the house and several open out on to a leafy courtyard. Carry on past the comfy drawing and dining rooms and you get to a pretty lawned garden, the perfect spot for afternoon tea (Mariage Frères all the way) or an early evening glass of wine from the family vineyard in Saint-emilionpuisseguin. There’s also a toy-filled sandpit thoughtfully positioned in the