Historic Hotels in Nancy, Near Place Stanislas

Hotel De Guise Nancy Vieille Ville is the most historic address on the list and the best rated, at 8.8 from more than 1,900 reviews. It occupies a 17th-century building in the historic centre, with individually decorated rooms, a 24-hour front desk and a daily breakfast. The Palais des Ducs de Lorraine, the Porte de la Craffe and the lanes of the old town are on its doorstep, and Place Stanislas and the Parc de la Pépinière are a short walk away. For a stay built around Nancy's history, this is the address I would choose first, as it places you in the oldest part of the city.

Mercure Nancy Centre Place Stanislas is the closest of the modern hotels to the square, 200 metres from Place Stanislas, with elegantly designed rooms on a glasswork theme that nods to the city's crystal tradition. It scores 7.7 from more than 1,800 reviews, offers a buffet or express breakfast and a modern bar with fine wines, and Nancy Ville TGV station is five minutes on foot. Staying here means the evening walk across Place Stanislas, with its gilded gates lit up, and on to Place de la Carrière, is part of every day of the trip.

Near the station, two hotels suit travellers arriving by TGV from Paris. Mercure Nancy Centre Gare, rated 8.2, stands directly opposite the station with air-conditioned rooms, a restaurant serving traditional French cuisine and a bar, and the historic district and Place Stanislas are an easy walk. ibis Styles Nancy Centre Gare, rated 8.1 from more than 1,800 reviews, is a contemporary hotel with rooms overlooking a garden or courtyard, a bar and a sauna, near the station and the convention centre. Both make day trips to Metz or Strasbourg easy by train.

Nancy's history goes beyond the 18th century. The Musée des Beaux-Arts, on Place Stanislas itself, holds a large collection of Daum glass, and the Musée de l'École de Nancy, in a villa south-west of the centre, shows the furniture, glass and ceramics of the Art Nouveau movement led by Émile Gallé. The Villa Majorelle, a landmark of the style, is nearby. The Ville Vieille, with the Palais des Ducs de Lorraine and the Porte de la Craffe, completes a walk through five centuries of the city's past in a single day.