Hôtel des Pyrénées — Restaurant in Bayonne

We were a group of Americans of retirement age staying 4 nights at this hotel in September 2019. We had a perfectly fabulous dinner in the Michelin-starred restaurant on our first night, really world class. ||||Staff at hotel and restaurant were uniformly helpful, pleasant and kind. The room was very comfy, wonderful leather arm chairs, lovely big bed. The reading lights over the bed were, however, ludicrously useless, a total design disaster. See photos. Also, they were impossible to completely turn off, so there was a pale blue light on over the pillow all night. Nonetheless, it was overall quite a nice room. ||||But here's the biggest problem we had with our lodgings: when making the room reservations, I noticed that the website is somewhat vague about the bathing arrangements. As people of a certain age, we all wanted to have a walk-in shower. I wrote an email asking for clarification, AND on a visit some months before the arrival of the group, I stopped in at the hotel to take a look in person. They assured me in writing, and in person that all 6 rooms we booked had not only a tub with a hand-held shower head, but also a walk-in separate shower. Two possibilities for bathing in every room. But since they were all occupied, I was not be able to visit a room to see for myself. ||||It saddens me to confirm that I was lied to. Please note that I am a fluent French speaker and have lived in France since the 60's so it was not a problem with language. Take a look at the photo of the bathing arrangements in Room 25; my travel pals had similar situations. The sides of the tub are sloped and slippery and there is nothing to grab onto, there is no shower curtain, no hook for the shower head on the wall, no rubber mat or similar. I am astonished to see an establishment of otherwise impressive standards with bathroom facilities such as this. ||||We are active seniors regularly putting in our 10k steps a day, verified on our iphones. We climb up mountains and dance til we drop. But we are not contortionists and take no pleasure in getting water all over the floor of our hotel room. ||||I find it perfectly flabbergasting that when in advance of our stay, I repeatedly asked to confirm the presence of independent walk-in showers, that hotel staff promised up and down that such was on offer in all our rooms. AND I've got it in writing as well! ||||So if you are young, nimble and inventive you will surely enjoy your stay, there is really a lot to like about this hotel, perfectly situated just outside the interesting part of the old town. But if a slippery tub with sloped sides and a hand-held shower head to wrangle on your own is not your idea of fun, avoid this place like the plague because these people will tell you anything at all to get...

We were a group of Americans of retirement age staying 4 nights at this hotel in September 2019. We had a perfectly fabulous dinner in the Michelin-starred restaurant on our first night, really world class. ||||Staff at hotel and restaurant were uniformly helpful, pleasant and kind. The room was very comfy, wonderful leather arm chairs, lovely big bed. The reading lights over the bed were, however, ludicrously useless, a total design disaster. See photos. Also, they were impossible to completely turn off, so there was a pale blue light on over the pillow all night. Nonetheless, it was overall quite a nice room. ||||But here's the biggest problem we had with our lodgings: when making the room reservations, I noticed that the website is somewhat vague about the bathing arrangements. As people of a certain age, we all wanted to have a walk-in shower. I wrote an email asking for clarification, AND on a visit some months before the arrival of the group, I stopped in at the hotel to take a look in person. They assured me in writing, and in person that all 6 rooms we booked had not only a tub with a hand-held shower head, but also a walk-in separate shower. Two possibilities for bathing in every room. But since they were all occupied, I was not be able to visit a room to see for myself. ||||It saddens me to confirm that I was lied to. Please note that I am a fluent French speaker and have lived in France since the 60's so it was not a problem with language. Take a look at the photo of the bathing arrangements in Room 25; my travel pals had similar situations. The sides of the tub are sloped and slippery and there is nothing to grab onto, there is no shower curtain, no hook for the shower head on the wall, no rubber mat or similar. I am astonished to see an establishment of otherwise impressive standards with bathroom facilities such as this. ||||We are active seniors regularly putting in our 10k steps a day, verified on our iphones. We climb up mountains and dance til we drop. But we are not contortionists and take no pleasure in getting water all over the floor of our hotel room. ||||I find it perfectly flabbergasting that when in advance of our stay, I repeatedly asked to confirm the presence of independent walk-in showers, that hotel staff promised up and down that such was on offer in all our rooms. AND I've got it in writing as well! ||||So if you are young, nimble and inventive you will surely enjoy your stay, there is really a lot to like about this hotel, perfectly situated just outside the interesting part of the old town. But if a slippery tub with sloped sides and a hand-held shower head to wrangle on your own is not your idea of fun, avoid this place like the plague because these people will tell you anything at all to get...

Very central, next to the town hall and old city walls this 4-star properties has all the charm of the sixties. The facilities are solid and basic but functional in an uncluttered way. It's clean and the rooms are a good size. Solid but small lift, dark public rooms, cluttered lobby, the place supports its restaurant which is the real star of the place.||||Make sure you book for dinner or better still take the half-board tariff and prepare to be amazed. Dinner starts at 7.45pm (to appease the Spanish perhaps) and course after course will bring you fresh, delicate tastes as a procession of the local wildlife and regional specialities are served. Hare and wood pigeon were my choices but hake and seafood were included. The usual foam, fluff, and deconstructed everything all added to the drama. my favourite was the chestnut soup served with pan fried hazelnuts and royal foils gras. Great local wine list too. Highly recommended but honestly could only master two...