The highest hotel in France, 2,620m above sea level, has just opened in the Pyrenees.
Hôtellerie des Laquets reopened its doors to guests in late September, having been closed for over 30 years.
The former stop-off for tourists and scientists, built between 1930 and 1933 on the route to the Pic du Midi, has been reopened after closing in 1996.
Following an extensive renovation, 16 rooms, a bar, restaurant, sauna and a steam room will be on offer to guests of Hôtellerie des Laquets.
The hotel restaurant offers a menu created by chef Stéphane Tournié, who was awarded a Michelin star at Les Jardins de l'Opéra in Toulouse.
The spa area with a sauna and steam rooms is due to open in December 2026.
To check in, travellers will have to take the cable car to the summit of the Pic du Midi at 2,877m, before connecting to the hotel via a private cable car.
Half-board double rooms, some in a historic wing of the original 1930s building, feature private bathrooms and panoramic views of the Pyrenees from €599 (£506) per night.
Hôtellerie des Laquets reached heights above Refuge de Solaise, a luxury hotel in Val d'Isère, 2,551m above sea level in the Alps, for the accolade of the highest French hotel.
The hotel sits just 257m below the Pic du Midi observatory, the world’s oldest high-altitude astronomical observatory at 2,877m.
Pic du Midi was designated France’s first International Dark Sky Reserve in 2013, and room rates include a daily planetarium show introducing the constellations.
This is not the only landmark hotel to be opening in Europe this year.
Tourists in London will soon be able to check in to one of the city’s landmarks with the opening of a new luxury hotel in Admiralty Arch.
Waldorf Astoria London, Admiralty Arch is set to welcome overnight guests for the first time in its history in autumn 2026, following an extensive restoration of the grade-I listed monument.
The monument is located on the opposite end of the Mall to Buckingham Palace, close to Trafalgar Square.
The hotel will feature 114 rooms and suites, with some named in reference to the building’s history and naval heritage, including the Nelson Suite, St James’s Residence and Victory Residence, named after HMS Victory.
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