The Best Places to Drink and Stay in Dinard

The Aquarium Bar, built inside the old natural history museum's actual aquarium, has porthole windows and curved retro love seats, which sets the tone for this 23-room hotel on the Côte d'Émeraude. The Art Deco bones are intact, the color palette runs sand to deep blue, and every room faces the water. Dinard markets itself as the Cannes of the north, and Castelbrac plays that part without taking it too seriously. The hotel holds 2 Michelin Keys.

The Second Empire facade on the seafront tells you everything about what kind of stay this will be: grand, a little theatrical, and unapologetically old Brittany. Rooms are generous and well-cushioned, with the sea-facing ones going fastest for obvious reasons. There's a spa, sauna, and hammam when the Channel convinces you indoors, plus a cafe running afternoon tea through to cocktails and a proper gourmet restaurant the locals haven't abandoned.

A brick-and-stone mansion on the Emerald Coast that looks ready for an Agatha Christie plot, this hotel in Dinard carries the full weight of old-school French seaside glamour. The piano bar is modeled after a British club, breakfast arrives in a conservatory with locally sourced provisions, and the interiors have been tidied up without losing the feeling that someone's luggage was left here a century ago and nobody's claimed it yet.

The cottages lean surf-shack on the outside, then quietly reveal heated pools and thalassotherapy treatments within. This 170-room resort hotel sits on the Emerald Coast with panoramic views over the English Channel, and the rooms carry a convincing casual-seaside feel that disguises how serious the amenities get. Two restaurants, a spa, and a setting that makes the grey Atlantic look like a selling point rather than a warning.