Cote Sable – 4*

REGION : Cap Ferret – Southwestern France
ATMOSPHERE : Seaside
STYLE : Beach gem
CATEGORY : 4*
ROOMS : 15 rooms

Classy Cottage Cool

It’s all in the name. Located on the Noroît coast between Lège and the tip of Cap-Ferret, almost at the very tip, facing Arcachon and the central beach, Coté Sable nearly has its feet in the basin and one of the most exceptional locations on the peninsula. The only 4* hotel on this side of the basin, the address, owned by Adra and Pascal Bataille (a name that those under 40 may not know) is one of Le Ferret’s highlights. Just a few steps from the town’s shopping, you can meet locals returning from the market and bump into celebrities who have come to walk amidst the Dune du Pilat, the Banc d’Arguin, and the pine forests.

SEATED IN THIS POST CARD-ESQUE SCENERY, Côté Sable has 15 cozy rooms, from 22 to 38 m2, with literary names (Camus, Kerouac, Mallarmé, Joyce, Kerouac…) and eclectic atmospheres (Arcachon style, East-Asian atmosphere, the traveler’s spirit…). All of them decorated with care and equipped with a balcony, terrace or private garden. Five rooms face the sand (Bingo! “sable” = “sand”), offering an unobstructed view of the basin, while the other ten open onto the garden side, where pines stand tall, and birds fly high. The ensemble is typically Ferretcapian in its elegance, understated chic, and almost childlike simplicity, with exposed timbers and panelling in the great Arcachon tradition, offering a contemporary interpretation of the traditional oyster farmer’s huts.

MORE THAN JUST ANOTHER BEAUTIFUL BEACH ADDRESS, this is a great vacation destination for recentering, outfitted with a tea room-terrace-bar facing the sea, Clarins spa and a private boat, the Picnic Club Sport. An undisputed reference.

To do

BAR & RESTAURANT – Full gourmet breakfast, iced tea, cocktails, champagne, ice cream by Patachou, aka Sébastien Bouillon, and high-end tapas (shrimp-chorizo brochettes, sardines, Asian tartar, Iberian charcuterie…). Any time is the right time to stop by.
SPA – Hammam, Jacuzzi, Clarins treatments and massages.
BOAT – Made of wood and hailing from the mythical Dubourdieu shipyard in Arcachon, it cleverly wears the name, Picnic Club Sport. It can carry up to 14 people when you set out to discover the Dune du Pilat, the Banc d’Arguin, the Ile aux Oiseaux and its cabanes tchanquées (the region’s typical stilted cabins).

The surrounding area

• Nature and heritage sites (Birds Island, Cap Ferret lighthouse, Arguin bank, Arès and Lège-Cap-Ferret National Salt Meadows Nature Reserve)
• Beaches and swimming
• Nautical and aquatic activities (boating, surfing, rowing, sailing…)
• Bike rides
• Discovery of the peninsula’s villages and neighborhoods (Lège – Le Grand Crohot, Grand Piquey, La Canon, L’Herbe, Le Truc Vert, Petit Piquey, Piraillan…)
• Shopping, local market
• Oyster tasting and workshops