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¶ Hotel du Palais in Biarritz, France. Like the nearby Maria Cristina, the Palais is the expression of a royal whim: Emperor Napoleon III built it as a summer residence in 1854 to please his wife Eugénie. The palace closed when the dynasty fell, but it reopened as a hotel in 1894 and has been one of the world's finest ever since. La specialité de la maison is pamper le guest. Winston Churchill became a regular only after the hotel at its own expense installed a custom-built, old-fashioned bathtub complete with bronze legs, just like the one in his London town house. Says Palais General Manager Roger Boltz: "As long as there are people who want to live in a select and secluded environment or achieve visible social status—and this means until the end of mankind—places like ours have a function to fill. They will never disappear."