The Best Hotels in Metz

A 16th-century military barracks in the heart of Metz, now a hotel in Accor's MGallery collection, where the rooms are surprisingly modern and a little maze-like thanks to whatever the original soldiers were working with floor-plan-wise. The on-site restaurant, La Réserve, sits in the old provisions warehouse and runs a menu that splits the difference between bistro and fine dining, which is a neat trick for a building that once stored hardtack.

Philippe Starck placed a traditional Lorraine farmhouse on top of a stark tower in Metz's Amphithéâtre district, and that's the whole pitch in one image. The 104-room hotel leans into the joke rather than explaining it, with natural wood, terracotta, and stained glass softening the monumental frame. The rooftop restaurant, La Maison de Manfred, sits inside the house itself, looking out over the city.

Fourteen lodges split between a lakeside and a forest, some dressed in primary colors and bold graphics, others in bare birch with Scandinavian restraint. This design-forward nature retreat sits minutes from Metz but reads like a deliberate escape from it. A greenhouse holds the pool, sauna, hammam, and whirlpool, and the bistro restaurant wraps itself in glass to make the most of the grounds. The bar adjoins a proper display wine cellar, which is its own argument for lingering.