Hôtel Bonnet

We booked on the hotel website as they guarantee the best prices. However after booking the price for our room was reduced, but they wouldn't lower our rate or give us an upgrade although rather empty. Our room was OK, but certainly not great for €100 per night.

We stayed in Hotel Bonnet last minute after being unable to find anywhere else to stay (beginning of October) and we are so glad we did! The woman in the reception was so friendly and helpful, spoke perfect English. We were more than happy with the room and bathroom, it was very comfortable. We opted to dine at the restaurant. When we were seated, it was explained that they were doing a two course set menu for €23, a starter with local hams and cheese and veal main. We explained that we didn’t eat meat, only fish and fully expected to have to find somewhere else to eat but they cooked us their fish dish specially for us and swapped the entree for a dessert. The food and wine were amazing, for a very reasonable price. (I will mention that it doesn’t look like they have anything vegetarian on their regular menu) Our waiter was so polite and attentive and the woman from reception came to check on us and translate anything we needed translating. Thank you so much Hotel Bonnet, we will definitely return.

After a long drive across the Pyrenees from Spain, we arrived at Hotel Bonnet for three nights and nearly walked straight out. The receptionist was very nice at all times but the lift doors were caked in grease, from people presumably, and the broken light fitting clearly hadn`t been cleaned for years, YUK! a bad start and worse in daylight everytime you got in it. It is a two star hotel and the room was very basic, stuffy, but at least it was clean. Outside the south facing rooms with a nice view of La Rhune which I asked for, is a sleeping policeman in the busy road. As you have to have the window/door open in August or suffocate, you can expect to hear heavy lorries crashing gears and lumbering past from 06.30 and scooters and bikes revving over the bump till late. The lift put us off having breakfast in the hotel until the day of our deparure and that was a wise choice. It was a bit like a works canteen in a 1950`s factory, and the cleaning up lady, you could not use the term waitress, wheeled a noisy trolley round to pick up the dirties and chuck the waste food in a slop bowl on the top of the trolley next to your elbow as you ate. Ambience null points! Because we had not dined in the hotel, we picked up a distinct air of disapproval from the owner, but it is in a good location for touring around, and the outdoor swimming pool is big, clean, and very pleasant indeed.

I used this hotel on a couple of occasions when organising sports groups tours to the region. The management met our every requirement and used their own local contact network to enhance our groups stays. There was nothing fancy - just excellent care of both parties. Individual members of my groups have stayed there many times subsequently.

I just cannot understand the negative review I have just read about Hotel Bonnet. I have now been back eight times to this hotel, which my partner and her late husband first discovered nearly 30 years ago.||||Firstly, I never - but never - go around any hotel (or, indeed, person's house) with a magnifying glass looking for things that will put me off. If they leap out at me all well and good but nothing at all leaps at you from Hotel Bonnet. I have never seen the lift 'caked in grease' and when I reported a light fitting which didn't work it was dealt with immediately. This is a country area in the foothills of the Pyrenees so there will always be some dust but that is dealt with daily by an excellent team of house keepers.||||Breakfast in a work's canteen in the 50s??? The person who wrote that has obviously never had breakfast in a French hotel otherwise they would know that the breakfast at Hotel Bonnet far surpasses anything that can be experienced during French travels. An endless choice of breads, pain-au-chocolate, pain-au-raisin, croissants, ham, cheese, yoghourt, dried fruits, a fruit bowl, hot chocolate, tea, coffee etc, etc, etc. What more could you need? No, you couldn't use the term 'Waitress' for the member of staff working there at breakfast time because it is SELF-SERVICE. That means you have to serve yourself! That part of the building is not unattractive - it is just different from the rest of the hotel. As for not having breakfast because of the lift - there are stairs!||||When the hotel was first established in 1900 there was no main road going past so it's a little unfair, to say the least, to blame them for the traffic noise. What must they do, move the building back a couple of hundred metres? I don't like traffic noise but I put up with it because I love this hotel and I am one of the most critical persons I know.||||A long programme of improvements to rooms and communal areas is taking place at this very moment. It is ongoing and each year when I return I see the fruits of those improvements. The bar area (Where else can you find a French hotel with a huge bar like Bonnet's?) has had a facelift and very pleasant it is too.||||Entertainment is often laid on and to take part in the dancing with Etienne playing his accordion is a delight. Go during the time of Fete D'Ibarron (normally last weekend in September/first in October) and experience the warmth of the Basque people with their spontaneous singing and dancing. ||||The food in the restaurant is beautiful and a large choice is available including many local recipes. Try the Toro (Seafood soup) or the Moules Farcies (Stuffed mussels) to whet your appetite before experiencing the delights cooked by Dominique the head chef. You will not be disappointed. Sample some of the fine wines, aperitifs and digestifs available.||||Rooms are average size for a French hotel and are clean and comfortable. Some are being updated on a rolling programme which obviously takes time and money but is ongoing. Luxury bathrooms have been installed in some - again a rolling programme for all the rooms.||||The facilities are second to none. The pool area is fantastic - a haven after a hard day's eating and drinking at St Jean de Luz or St Pée sur Nivelle (The local main town about 20 minutes walk away). I have mentioned the bar which is by far the largest I have come across in France. Across the road is 'La Ferme' - an ancient huge farmhouse and barn converted to a concert hall and conference centre. Sometimes a Basque celebrity, Michel Etcheverry, performs here and it's a privilege to be invited to these special occasions.||||Therese and Theo Bonnet, their family and staff run THE best hotel in France. That is what I feel and if I was told I could only ever go on one holiday per year, this is where I would be heading. I am so grateful to my partner for introducing me to it and, indeed, the Pays Basque area in which it sits.

Hotel Bonnet in the Basque region of France (near the village of St.-Pee-Sur-Nivelle) is an ideal location for family travel. The hotel, which includes some 70 rooms in the main building, and a restored heritage building nearby for banquets and conferences, is clean and well-run by the personable Bonnet family. You'll enjoy use of the 25-meter swimming pool and adjacent kiddie pool, a tennis court and excellent resturants that offer a la carte dining or meal packages. Located about 10 minutes drive from the lovely seaside town of St-Jean-de-Luz (which has great beaches), the area is in the foothill of the Pyrenees mountains, dotted with picturesque villages, perfect for visiting markets, antique hunting and sampling the local, delicious cuisine. Lots to do nearby: hiking, golf, swimming and surfing, zip lining at the nearby lake, village festivals, shopping, museums and plenty to see. Try to go to a Jai-alai match - said to be the fastest game on earth!

Really good hotel for a great price. Rooms are really nice and clean. And don't forget to visit the hotel's restaurant, the food is amazing! 9/10!!

Great place ! Great food and wine and very nice people managing it. The pool is beautiful