As Cognac’s first five-star hotel, the Chais Monnet Hotel & Spa has the ideal setting: a former cognac trading house on the banks of the Charente River. Converted 19th-century warehouses – conjoined by cool glass-and-iron structures – are now home to 92 sunny, softly appointed rooms (some with original oak beams) and a starred gastronomic restaurant, Les Foudres, an intimate, underground venue lined with wooden barrels. Relax on the rooftop terrace or in the spa’s hammam before a bespoke Olivier Claire therapy. Don’t miss live jazz and rare vintage pours beneath the vaulted ceiling of Le 1838, housed in the old cooperage.