La Caravelle

La Caravelle

, 5314 Route des Lacs, Biscarrosse, Nouvelle-Aquitaine.

La Caravelle sits in one of the most outstanding locations, right on the edge of Biscarrosse Lake in a little bay surrounded by trees and fronted by a lawn and a little beach of soft sand. Over a period of nearly a century, what started as a fisherman’s hut has grown into an 11 room hotel with a great restaurant.

Many hotels have a free car park, but La Caravelle is one of the few with a space to park your boat. The lawn runs right down to the waters edge where there are little jetties to moor small craft. Palm trees grow in the garden and there are sunbeds and chairs scattered amongst, all with the most stunning view across the lake. Indeed, almost wherever you are the the hotel, the view is always there.

The restaurant offers authentic regional cuisine using fresh seasonal produce, fish specialties and traditional recipes. To start the day there is little to beat a tasty breakfast on the terrace facing the lake. Follow that with lunch in the nautical atmosphere of the dining room or on the shaded terrace. Then finish the day with a romantic dinner watching the lights shimmer on the water.

Every room has an expansive view of the lake, and most have a balcony overlooking the water. Rooms have a double or twin beds, bathtub or shower, and they all feature a flatscreen TV, free wi-fi and a direct-dial telephone.

The activities available around Ispe seem almost limitless. On the water choose from boat trips, sailing, windsurfing, canoeing, fishing or scuba diving. There are footpaths and cycle tracks in the pine forest behind the hotel and horse-riding along the edge of the lake. A little further afield there are museums, a golf course, surfing at the coast, a lakeside aquapark and more besides. And no-one should forget the inestimable pleasure of sitting in the garden, looking at the view and doing absolutely nothing.