Personally, I love the way that Sofitel, either within their Legends or Luxury Hotels portfolios have preserved so many of the world's great, classic, hotels.

Personal favourite has to be the Winter Palace, in Luxor, Egypt.

Sure it's old and needs a bit of renovation / restoration to parts of the exterior, but the very history of the hotel; its Victoria Lounge being where Howard Carter posted the first public notice of the discovery of Tutankhamun's tomb, and the feeling of, calm; akin to having stepped back into a less frenetic era, that hits you as soon as you enter the front door more than make up for any crazing of the rendering.

Add to this the most magnificent hotel gardens; which possess an uncanny ability to isolate one from the hectic city, that is Luxor, just beyond the walls, and you have the perfect location for rest and relaxation.

What tops it all however is the stellar levels of customer care from all staff, who treat guest more as visiting family members than customers.

I know of no other hotel where it is possible not to have visited for 4 years only to walk in and have every member of staff not only remember your face and name, but even such details as what your drink preferences are in the bar (different drinks for different times of day), how you like your eggs cooked with breakfast and even enquiring about the health of family members, whom they've never met & who you might have only mentioned once or twice in all the times you've stayed there.