Great beachfront location with wonderful sea views but....??
Le Pavillon Royal
This was our first visit to this lovely site in the middle of June this year. On arrival we received a warm welcome from the friendly and welcoming staff who spoke very good English. The site is in a great location with direct access to the beach and fabulous views over the ocean towards northern Spain
We were given a choice of two pitches at the bottom end of the site close to the gate giving direct access to the beach, neither of which was ideal, but on looking around all all of the pitches in this part of the site were small. The roads around the site were quite narrow, making access to the pitches quite difficult - thank goodness for motor movers.
Expensive site - 7 nights at an average of over £34.00 per night for a fully serviced pitch. Water tap connections on all pitches seemed to be defective and leaked meaning they couldn’t be left connected. - I reported this to reception but nothing was done to rectify during our stay.
The toilet facilities were strange in as much as there was one block for WC’s, separate mens and women, and about 50 yards away another block for showers and wash hand basins. On saying that they were relatively new, and well maintained although cleaning them around 8:30 / 9 o’clock in the morning seemed a little strange when they were in peak demand.
The site WiFi reception was poor at best, so I was glad I was able to use my 4G data roaming connection instead.
The site was not overly busy during our stay but most visitors had congregated at the beach end mainly because of the views and direct access to the beach. It is definitely a magnet for the surfing fraternity. In our opinion not a 5 star site but 5 star prices. Clearly you pay for the sea views and the location directly on the beach.
Being close to the beach the site is susceptible to the prevailing westerly winds. If adverse weather was likely the security staff did come round and warn visitors and if relevant recommended taking down awnings or canopies. For us this only happened on our last night when we had already taken down our awning and were glad we did.
Other than the beach, round and about there are plenty of places to visit and things to do. Biarritz is only a 15 minute drive away, the picturesque coastal towns of Bidart, and Saint Jean de Luz are also close by, both with lovely beaches. The Basque cities of Bayonne and San Sebastian (just over the border in Spain) are well worth a visit, and not forgetting the foothills of the Pyrenees just a short drive away.
We shall visit this area again, but not sure if we shall stay at Pavilion Royal based purely on price and small pitches, particularly those close to the beach.
