Forced disconnection: five digital detox hotels for a break from screens

Christine Robalo | 3/17/25, 4:44 PM

Far from notifications and Wi-Fi, some hotels are offering a digital detox to restore a more natural rhythm. Between silence, forgotten rituals and a return to nature, an immersion in a daily life without connection.

It's a concept that's right up there with the times: cutting yourself off from screens to reconnect... with yourself. All over France, digital detox hotels are inviting people to slow down, far from the hustle and bustle. The experience is appealing to a growing number of "all-connected" enthusiasts, ready to swap Wi-Fi for silence. Here, no e-mails, no social networks, just an immersion where the time is read by daylight and the only algorithm in operation is that of the body, which finds its own rhythm. Have lunch without immortalizing your plate, walk without counting your steps, memorize a face without the help of an app. Very quickly, the absence of a screen creates a void to be filled. You observe details, listen out for neighbors' conversations, start reading "real" books... An experience that ends up revealing a forgotten luxury: that of time stretching out without interruption. For those ready for the adventure, here are five addresses where hyperconnection gives way to the essential.

Hotel Les Lumières: unplugging with grace

Just set back from the hustle and bustle that surrounds the entrance to the Château de Versailles, Les Lumières cultivates a rare form of luxury: that of slowed-down time. No grandiloquent staging, no omnipresent gilding - the reference to the royal neighbor remains discreet, slipped into a few details, like a young pear tree in the garden, a nod to the tastes of the Sun King. The address is made up of two private mansions, a blend of sober architecture and 19th-century fantasy, linked by a green setting that makes you forget the hustle and bustle of the surrounding area. inside, serenity is achieved through restraint. Architect Didier Benderli has designed rooms that breathe without trying to impress: gray walls punctuated by white highlights, deep green room entrances, blond parquet flooring, thick cream-colored curtains, screen-like headboards in damask fabric. The lighting is soft and thoughtful, avoiding the pitfall of complicated lighting scenarios, often incomprehensible after a long day. at dinnertime, a wooden box allows you to put your phone away - without injunction or obligation, just a suggestion. In the bedroom, digital technology gives way to other rituals: an 8 kg weighted blanket awaits sleepers in search of a deep night's sleep, a voice box broadcasts sound programs designed to soothe the mind.every evening, a mindfulness book is discreetly placed on the pillow, with a page marked as an invitation to slow down before switching off the light. As an added bonus, the Dream Machine, a state-of-the-art self-hypnosis device, can be delivered to the room on request, providing an alternative to sleeping pills for setting the inner clock back.

Price: From €380 / night (DDP not included).
Where ? 5 Rue Colbert - 78000 Versailles. Tel: 01 87 50 05 00
Further information on Hôtel de Lumières

L’hôtel Les Lumières Spa

Les Cures Marines Trouville MGallery: digital escape by the sea

Facing the vast sandy expanse of the Côte Fleurie, Les Cures Marines offers an alternative to blue-screen cures. Housed in a Belle Époque building that has seen generations of bathers come and go in search of sea air, this five-star hotel has swapped the glitz and glamour of the past for a more modern approach.toiles has swapped the retro glamour of yesteryear for a more contemporary approach to well-being, where you don't just sip a detox herbal tea in your bathrobe. Since December 2023, the hotel has been operating under The Purist label, a wellness program designed by Accor, based on five cycles: Marin (to breathe deeply), Détox (to recover from excess), Émotions (to, a priori, manage them better), Évasion (to get out of one's routine) and Longévité (to go the distance).

The rooms, designed by Jean-Philippe Nuel, cultivate an elegant sobriety and are equipped with a few well-thought-out accessories: a pillow menu, light therapy lamps and tips for taming Morpheus without going through the nightly scrolling. On the plate, La Galerie relies on seasonal produce, balanced yet gourmet cuisine and desserts which, good news, are not reduced to an exercise in sweet frustration.

The wellness center stretches over three levels and goes far beyond simple thalassotherapy. Among the highlights: Rebalance Impulse, a neuro-meditation session where you lie back in a weightless armchair and let yourself be guided by a mix of sounds, lights and breathing exercises. The aim? Melt away stress and recalibrate sleep, often badly affected by ultra-connectivity.

Price: From €448 / night (DDP not included).
Where? Boulevard de la Cahotte- 14360 Trouville-sur-Mer. Tel: 02 31 14 26 00
Further information on Cures Marines Trouville MGallery

Village Castigno, digital detox in grand cru mode

at Assignan, in the Languedoc hinterland, luxury isn't measured in stars or Wi-Fi speed. Rooms and suites are scattered throughout the village, in some thirty carefully restored houses. No classic hotel, no impersonal reception desk: check-in takes place in a building just like any other, and once you've settled in, you quickly forget all about the usual instructions for a five-star stay. No television, no Internet connection in the rooms, just an invitation to slow down, lulled by the rhythm of the vineyards that surround the estate. For Castigno is also a 40-hectare biodynamic vineyard. Far from postcard-perfect wine folklore, the winery impresses with its avant-garde architecture and, above all, the quality of its wines, which have nothing to envy the great names of Bordeaux. And as we don't do things by halves here, a local microbrewery is also on hand for those who prefer hops to grape varieties. The experience doesn't stop there: you can get around on foot, by bike, in a buggy or electric scooter, leaving your car at the village entrance. Three restaurants enliven the central square, from the cosy bistro to chef Stéphan Paroche's gastronomic address, including a Thai restaurant that surprises with its precision. Between meals, wellness areas offer an even gentler interlude in this timeless bubble.

Price: From €146 / night (DDP not included).
Where to find us Av. de Saint-Chinian - 34360 Assignan. Tel: 04 67 24 26 41
Further information on Village et château Castigno

Loire Valley Lodge, unplug in the canopy

It seems that sleeping among the trees is the best cure for insomnia. At Loire Valley Lodge, the birds do the waking, and insomnia often ends up on the carpet. No parasitic waves, no crackling network: here, no Wi-Fi, no 4G, just 18 wooden lodges perched four meters off the ground, scattered throughout a 300-hectare private forest. A refuge an hour by TGV from Paris, but light years away from the hustle and bustle of everyday life. In these large-format cabins, picture windows frame nature like a living work of art. Each lodge is a unique piece, designed by an artist - CharlElie Couture, Aurèle, Cédric Porchez among others - fusing contemporary art and sylvotherapy, a passion claimed by founder Anne-Caroline Frey. To communicate, we swap the smartphone for a walkie-talkie, and when night falls, the flashlight becomes a precious ally. Here, forgotten gestures are revived. Luxury takes on unexpected forms: saunas on the terrace of some lodges, private Jacuzzis for all, a 20-metre swimming pool nestling under the pines. And to prolong this immersion, the forest itself becomes an art gallery, punctuated by monumental works that emerge between the trunks. The biodynamic zome, a kind of geometric cocoon, invites you to relax, but we bet that most visitors spend hours on their terrace, watching the light play in the leaves and the deer approach, curious. And since unplugging doesn't prevent you from eating well, Thomas Besnault's table features a kitchen garden planted on the estate. A cuisine as raw as it is subtle, a reward in suspense that echoes those you feel from your hot bath, in the middle of the night, far from everything.

Price: From €399 / night (DDP not included).
Where to find us Allée de la Duporterie - 37320 Esvres-sur-Indre. Tel: 02 47 38 85 88
Further information on Loire Valley Lodges

Château de Riell, where the only connection is with nature

Perched between umbrella pines and oleanders, with the Pyrenees as a backdrop, Château de Riell doesn't need to ban screens: there's no network here. There's no need to desperately search for a 4G bar between two cypress trees, as the valley acts as a natural anti-connection bubble. And rather than fight against a phantom signal, you might as well let yourself be carried away by the old-fashioned atmosphere of this rococo folly, suspended between heaven and earth opposite Mount Canigou. Far from any injunction to well-being, digital detox here is without program, without constraint and without effort. The 19 rooms, housed in this Relais & Châteaux residence, cultivate an old-fashioned charm. An open fire, a view over the countryside and cosy alcoves where time seems to stand still are just some of the arguments that make you forget your screens. As for the 60-hectare park, it's an invitation to simple pleasures: strolling under the palm trees, listening to the wind play in the cypress trees, having absolutely nothing to do and savoring it all.

The experience also extends to Benoit Janet's table, where local produce and the season dictate the menu. Alpine cheeses, Roussillon wines and flavors of the day make up a sincere cuisine, rooted in its terroir. Here, we rediscover the taste of time, of dinners that stretch out, of pleasures that aren't shared in a story. And when night comes, the silence of the mountains is a welcome substitute for notifications.