Regina Experimental Biarritz
Biarritz — France
About
The Regina has been watching the Atlantic for more than a century. Built in 1907, during the years when Biarritz ranked among Europe’s most fashionable seaside resorts, it remains one of the town’s most recognisable landmarks. The white façade still looks much as it did in its Belle Époque days. Step inside, however, and the building reveals its greatest surprise. Most hotels have a lobby. The Regina has an atrium. Five storeys of white arches rise beneath a vast glass roof, creating a space that feels almost implausibly grand for a surf town on France’s southwestern coast. It is the kind of room that immediately explains why wealthy Europeans once travelled here for entire seasons rather than long weekends. The recent transformation by Experimental Group avoided turning the hotel into a historical reconstruction. Instead, designer Dorothée Meilichzon looked to the Atlantic itself. Rope framed mirrors, striped fabrics, vintage telephones, sea coloured cabinetry and playful nautical references appear throughout the interiors. Some rooms flirt with eccentricity. Others will make design enthusiasts reach for their camera before they unpack. Either way, nobody could accuse the Regina of looking like every other luxury hotel. What works particularly well is the tension between the architecture and the interiors. The building provides the grandeur. The design brings personality. Walking along the galleries that overlook the atrium, you constantly move between the two. The setting contributes its share. The hotel occupies a commanding position overlooking the Bay of Biscay and the nearby lighthouse, away from the busiest parts of town but close enough to reach the beach and centre on foot. The ocean remains a constant presence, whether from the terrace, the pool or one of the better sea view rooms. The restaurant and bar continue the Atlantic theme with Basque influences and a welcome sense of informality. People come for the building, the atmosphere and that rare feeling of staying somewhere with a genuine point of view.