DEPARTURES TRAVEL ON
DEPARTURES TRAVEL ON LOCATION The Buzz from Biarritz The resurgence of the French seaside town centres on the newly restored Hôtel du Palais, but its allures extend far beyond. by Alexander Lobrano 36 The Atlantic laps the extensive grounds of Hôtel du Palais BIARRITZ, THE TINY FISHING VILLAGE in the French Basque Country that became one of the most illustrious seaside resorts in Europe during the 19th century, is cool again. A new generation of discerning tastemakers have fallen in love with this well-bred coastal enclave, which, truth be told, never really lost its sense of style. The key to its continuing allure lies with its indefatigable popularity among the wealthy French families who’ve been coming here from one generation to the next, because this lively little © HOTEL DU PALAIS BIARRITZ
CLOCKWISE FROM TOP LEFT: DELPHINE PHOTOGRAPHIE (2), MATTHIEU CELLARD (2) town has such a dramatically scenic setting, beautiful beaches and, being both Basque and French, a distinctive cultural identity. The talk of the town this year is the surprisingly sensitive and successful makeover of the Hôtel du Palais ( hoteldupalaisbiarritz. com), a hostelry that’s as emblematic of Biarritz as The Carlyle is of New York City or the Adlon of Berlin. Now part of The Unbound Collection by Hyatt, it reopened in March after a two-year renovation by Atelier COS, a Parisian interior architecture firm, and architect Isabelle Joly, whose painstakingly detailed restoration, of both decor and furnishings, harks back to the Second French Empire. Biarritz began its galloping transformation into a posh beach town in 1854 when the Emperor Napoleon III and Spanish-born Empress Eugénie bought several hectares of dunes overlooking the beach now known as La Grande Plage (The Big Beach) and commissioned the engineer Dagueret with the task of preparing the site for a summer home surrounded by gardens, woods, meadows, a pond and outbuildings. Eugénie already knew and loved the region, a place she appreciated as a venue for therapeutic sea-bathing and its proximity to her native Spain, and Napoleon III, who was devoted to his wife, built the villa for his headstrong wife to assuage her homesickness. Much of the original grandeur shines as brightly as ever, and the cuisine, too, is back to regal standards: chef Aurélien Largeau is winning raves from hotel guests and France’s most esteemed restaurant critics for his two tasting menus at La Rotonde, and everyone loves the redesigned teal-blue bar, which has an appropriately clubby atmosphere. With surfers and windsurfers dotting the resort’s perfectly curling Atlantic breakers in growing numbers – and filling the town’s bars and bistros at night – this visibly reinvigorated Herrikogrilled tataki beef (below), enjoyed in Café Basque’s bright dining room (left) An Olatua mixologist creates the rooftop bistro’s fêted cocktail creations grande dame suddenly feels younger and livelier than it has in many years. Booking It Aside from the Hôtel du Palais, Biarritz has one of the most opulent and confidential B&Bs in France, Villa Magnan (instagram.com/ villamagnan), which has a royal history of its own and is today run by ex-Parisians Anne and Jérôme Israël, who originally bought and meticulously resorted the Art Deco villa as a vacation home for themselves. “I’d never seen anything like this place,” says Anne. “The poetry it gave off was palpable. No one had lived here for 80 years. There was nothing but birdsong and beautiful trees, and it was sort of an archive of Art Deco, luxurious and modest at the same time.” Alternatively, try Café de Paris (hotel-cafedeparis-biarritz. com), a venerable seaside destination with 19 rooms renovated last year by 37 DEPARTURES
