USP This was once the holiday residence of France’s Emperor Napoleon III and his wife Empress Eugenie. The couple fell in love with the Basque Coast while holidaying in Biarritz in the 1850s and decided to build a palace overlooking the sea.

The spa uses Guerlain products, which for many years was Eugenie’s own personal eau de-toilette.

AMBIENCE The spa’s brochure claims to offer "an unforgettable journey between dreams and reality", which was a fairly accurate description of my visit there. Having confused Hotel du Palais with another, equally grand looking building the other side of the bay, I was slightly late when I arrived at the hotel’s grand entrance.

From here I was directed down a long corridor, past many photographs of famous people who have stayed at the hotel in years gone by, and down in a lift before finally arriving at the spa.

The colour scheme is really subtle - varying shades of beige, with marble-looking floors, all given a more modern feel by interesting, bronze paintings on the walls, provided by a local artist.

The spa is very large, covering an area of 3000sq metres and set over five floors. It has a luxurious, 15-metre long indoor swimming pool with spectacular views overlooking the Atlantic, a Jacuzzi, sauna, fitness room, make-up area with Guerlain products, a lavish looking hair salon, and finally the Salon Eugenie, a tea lounge where you can relax and contemplate the wonderful sea views.

The only downside to all this is there didn’t seem to be anyone around using any of it, giving the place a very quiet, slightly stilted atmosphere.

EXPERIENCE No sooner had I entered reception than I was whisked past the swimming pool, into yet another lift, and down to the treatment room. I was given one of the signature massage treatments – the Guerlain Imperial Massage, which sounds very impressive but was in fact a fairly conventional body massage using the Guerlain Eau de Cologne Imperial.

The treatment began with a gentle massage of the head and shoulders, progressing to long sweeping hand movements and pressure point work. The scent of the eau de cologne was really light and pleasant, sending me into a gentle reverie. If anything, she could have got more stuck into knots in my shoulders, but apart from that 50 minutes felt like ten. I felt invigorated and refreshed – ready to tackle some more waves in the sea below.

One of the downsides was there didn’t seem to be a rest room of any kind, which would have finished off the treatment nicely. Instead I was shown into the Eugenie Salon and offered a herbal tea, which was relaxing enough. There were many signed photographs on the walls of famous people who have visited the hotel and its spa over the years – Coco Channel, Prince Edward and Wallis Simpson, and Ernest Hemmingway to name a few, making you feel like you’re in the presence of greatness as you sip your tea.

FOOD Salon Eugenie Salon offers a wide variety of refreshing teas, smoothies and fruits juices. The only food offered here are pastries.

IN-CROWD This was hard to tell as most people were lunching down below at the poolside. From what I could make out, the clientele appeared to be mainly hotel guests or people going to one of the fitness classes such as Pilates, which was being held that afternoon. There were also a group of French golfers using the spa who were there for coaching sessions.

WALLET WATCH My massage was €100; for the more exotic, longer treatments, such as the Tibetan Bowl Massage and Shiatsu you can expect to pay €150. Facials range between €60 to €100, and body treatments from €70 for a hydro massage to €195 for a combined body polish and body wrap. There are plenty of packages on offer, ranging from €630 up to a six-day ‘Silhouette’ programme, involving a mixture of treatments with personal training for €1495. Room prices begin at €300.

NEED TO KNOW Hotel du Palais, Imperial Resort & Spa, 1 Avenue de l’Limperatrice, F-64200 Biarritz, France. Tel. 00 33 (0) 559 416 400. Email. spa@hotel-du-palais.com; www.hotel-du-palais.com

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