Detour Pit Stop #99: Hotel Le Garage, Biarritz, France
Spending the night in a disused garage might not sound that appealing, but Hotel Le Garage in Biarritz has other ideas.
This luxurious boutique residence was once a simple carriage shed built to house the transport of the Belle Epoque guests at the grand Regina Hotel. It was then enlarged and became home to the local aero club, before entrepreneur Robert Barenne turned it into a garage in 1930.
Here the Rolls-Royces and Cadillacs of the Regina’s clientele would be polished and fuelled for day trips along the Atlantic coast for the next three decades (excluding the war years). However, by the end of the 1960s the Esso petrol station was gone and the building lay empty.
In 2020 the garage was given a new lease of life after a ten-month transformation to create a 27-room hotel with spectacular sea views from its cliff-top location, and a modern take on “bien vivre Biarrot”. There’s a large outdoor pool for those who don’t dare brave the Atlantic waves and a bistrot serving traditional Basque cuisine.
Oh, and there’s now an underground car park to keep your pride and joy away from the ocean spray.