Strolling | Maybe Off-Season is the True Biarritz 🌊✨

On a whim, we headed west 🚗💨—originally bound for San Sebastián to see Chillida’s sculptures 🗿 and Bilbao for some prawns 🦐, but plans changed, and we veered north instead. Ended up spending a completely lazy weekend at Hôtel du Palais 🏰💤. Biarritz, with its "ritz", isn’t just for show 💅. In summer, it’s a playground for the elite 🏖️👙, but October brings quiet beaches 🏝️ and near-empty hotels—yet the Atlantic’s roaring waves 🌊💥 lose none of their drama. The desolate shoreline from our window and the gilded solitude of the Rotonde oddly reminded me of Thomas Mann 📖 (though that feels vaguely ominous 👻). We’re not usually luxury hotel devotees ✨, but shrewd capitalists know how to monopolize the best views—some landscapes are only fully savored from certain rooms. Hôtel du Palais is one such place. The rooms, meals, and service aren’t flawless, but when the Atlantic hurls explosions of white foam 💦 against your floor-to-ceiling windows, all is forgiven 😌💖. From Hadrian to Napoleon III, emperors knew how to pick a retreat 👑. Off-season, the town exhales a slower, local rhythm 🍃. Strip away the jet-set boutiques, and it feels cheaper than the South of France 💰➡️💰. We left stuffed with seafood 🦞 and a kilo of chestnuts 🌰 from a Basque grandfather’s orchard. #Biarritz #HiddenGem #SlowTravel #LotusEaterMode