La Reserve

The hotel is situated in a picturesque location on the St Barbel headland above St Jean with views from the rooms along the coast to Biarritz. An easy 20 min walk via the costal path with stunning views over the bay, Socca and La Ruhne, delivers you to St Jean allowing you to work up an appetite or walk off your dinner. The food at Illura, the hotel’s restaurant is sublime, the Chef and team absolutely deserve their Michelin accolade and prices reflect this fairly. Front of house need more experience to up their game if they hope to achieve a standard worthy of a star. The theatre that always plays out was missing! No Sommelier? The principal didn’t visit our table. We didn’t even get an understudy. The supporting cast sadly lacked conviction when delivering the menu and each course. It wasn’t that any lines were fluffed, but given how good the food was, their intonation when describing each course lacked any sense of worshipful fervour. Super value for money at €90 for a 6 course tasting menu. Comparables in the area (Le Kaiku in St Jean - Michelin fine dinning or at the other end Ostalamer in Acotz - Vibe, seafood, views & cocktails, bar open ‘till late). Although the communal facilities and areas are everything that you would expect from a 5 Star facility, I was disappointed by the room that we had. I traveled with my wife and two adult daughters and booked 307 the “Prestige Suite”. I believe that it is one of the Hotel’s best rooms. It certainly had one of the bests views from its large balcony. However there were certain elements within the room that you would not expect in 5 star accommodation. The decor may have been refreshed in the last couple of years by painting, but generally required a make over for both furnishings an decoration (fresh and clean, but more 3* than any 5* wow factor chic). There was only 1 full length mirror in the living room in a 2 bedroom apartment and no mirrors over the dressing rooms in the bedrooms. This caused pandemonium with the 3 female members of my party. “Wardrobe” storage was simply shelves with curtains ? Even a 3* Hotel would provide a proper wardrobe. No complimentary bottled water provided? No coffee machine….. what would Mr. Clooney say? On reflection, La Reserve is a unique hotel with a fantastic restaurant in an idyllic location, so despite its slightly irritating idiosyncrasies, I’d love to return. A few simple adjustments would turn this hotel into an extraordinarily special place.