Castelbrac

Located on Brittany’s Côte d'Émeraude, the seaside town of Dinard is sometimes referred to as the “Cannes of the north.” It’s a nickname that tells you practically everything you need to know about the place: it’s elegant, historic, exclusive, famous for its glamorous old architecture and white sandy beaches, a longtime getaway for the French and English elite. Naturally, there are a handful of classic hotels, grand dames on the beachfront promenade, to choose from. And then there’s the newly opened Castelbrac. The buzzed-about hotel bridges the best of the old and new worlds. Until 1992 the building was the home of the national museum of natural history; generations of French schoolchildren have passed through its doors. Now it’s a 23-room hotel that feels like a destination in its own right. Designers Sandra Benhamou and Léonie Alma Mason have smartly kept many of the villa’s more charming Art Deco details, infusing the space with a clean, contemporary aesthetic and an ocean-inspired color palette of sand, seashell ivory, and a range of deep blues. Nothing but the best for the Faber family who originally spent their holidays here: all of the hotel’s rooms look out over the water, and many have private terraces where breakfast can be served on request. The look is refined but relaxed, with a handful of decorative elements — moody floral wallpaper, retro headboards, antique gilded mirrors — enlivening the interiors. Standard features include beds topped with goose-feather duvets, marble bathrooms stocked with Thēmaē products, Nespresso machines, and ultra-flat HD TVs. Downstairs at Le Pourquoi Pas, the hotel’s restaurant, locally sourced seafood is the plat du jour.