"A lavish estate originally built as a summer residence for Napoleon III, now a baroque hotel with a chandeliered guest room and a balcony overlooking the Grande Plage." - Travel + Leisure Editors
"Sited on the Grande Plage and originally built as an imperial villa for Napoleon III and Empress Eugénie, this Palace-classified seaside hotel blends restored 19th-century grandeur—period furniture, tapestries and an ornate restored chandelier—with modern luxury across 86 rooms and 56 suites. Culinary offerings draw on Basque and local maritime producers via a Michelin-starred menu (highlights include John Dory with lemon confit and periwinkles and cage-caught lobster roasted on pine needles), while leisure amenities include a heated outdoor pool with direct beach access, a multi-level Guerlain spa and on-demand surf lessons." - Mary Winston Nicklin, Lindsey Tramuta
"Biarritz has been a resort town since the 1800s and the Hôtel du Palais, commissioned by Empress Eugenie de Montijo, wife of Napoleon III, arguably put it on the map. With views overlooking the Atlantic and the Pyrenees in the distance, the swank seaside resort reopened in June 2022 after extensive renovations."
"Biarritz, the buzzy resort town, was put on the map in 1854 when Napoleon III scooped up a beachfront property there and erected a monument of his love for wife Empress Eugénie in the form of a tremendous vacation home. In 1892, this palace became the Hotel du Palais, and in 2021 this hotel reopened after a tremendously ambitious 4-year renovation. After all of these years and all of these changes, the sense of tender and decadent dedication not only remains but prevails. Think a ballroom frescoed with fairytales perfect for a waltz, and a sumptuous bar lit by a 900-pound crystal chandelier. Loveliest of all is the vast Guerlain Imperial Spa, named for the perfumier who invented a cologne special just for Eugénie. Within these walls, everything is a gift crafted specially for you." - CNT Editors, Betsy Blumenthal
"Biarritz, the buzzy resort town, was put on the map in 1854 when Napoleon III scooped up a beachfront property there and erected a monument of his love for wife Empress Eugénie in the form of a tremendous vacation home. In 1892, this palace became the Hotel du Palais, and in 2021 this hotel reopened after a tremendously ambitious 4-year renovation. After all of these years and all of these changes, the sense of tender and decadent dedication not only remains but prevails. Think a ballroom frescoed with fairytales perfect for a waltz, and a sumptuous bar lit by a 900-pound crystal chandelier. Loveliest of all is the vast Guerlain Imperial Spa, named for the perfumier who invented a cologne special just for Eugénie. Within these walls, everything is a gift crafted specially for you." - CNT Editors, Betsy Blumenthal