Concierge.com's insider take:

The pink palace set high on a hill in its own gardens—the chosen lodgings of President Bush, Sting, and Cher—remains as extraordinary as ever thanks to good management (it's in the Orient-Express stable) and recent refurbishments. Of the 109 rooms, you really have to get one of the Palace Rooms for the full 18th-century experience. Those in the modern Garden Wing and the more period-appropriate Villa Lapa lack that je ne sais quoi. If your bonus came in big, secure the Tower Room, #701—it has not only a private terrace but also a walkway to a second one, an octagonal tower-top perch just big enough for breakfast. Amenities are all you'd expect, with an outdoor pool in the grounds and an indoor one in the La Prairie (and MAC makeup) spa, with sauna, steam, and gym. Kids are well catered for too, with babysitting service and a playground. Last but not least, this hotel has its own fragrance, the 140-year-old mandarin-violet-cedar Agua de Portugal, legacy of King Louis I's bride, Princess Maria Pia of Savoy.