Hôtel du Palais, Biarritz: Distant elevated view

Biarritz became more renowned in 1854 when Napoleon III built a palace on the beach for Empress Eugenie (the Villa Eugénie, now the Hôtel du Palais). It was built in a Second Empire style, originally by Hippolyte Durand, latter replaced by Auguste Couvrechef. European royalty such as Queen Victoria, Edward VII, and Alfonso XIII of Spain were frequent visitors. Another wing was built in 1859. Eugenie sold the palace to the Union Bank of Paris in 1880. It was first converted into a hotel-casino, the “Palais Biarritz” and then into a hotel in 1893. Destroyed by fire on 1 February 1903, the building was rebuilt in 1903-1905 with an additional wing to form an “E” shape. Édouard-Jean Niermans was the architect, and he retained the exterior walls but added the Mansard roof and other neo- Louis XIII details. It still operates as a luxury hotel.