Why book?
“There are the people from Cap Ferret… and the others,” says designer Philippe Starck, a longtime resident of this narrow slip of land, known for its simple pleasures, oyster farming, and untamed stretches of soft sand dunes. At first glance, you might mistake Cap Ferret’s first five-star hotel for an expansive holiday home – brick, white-painted, with a terracotta-tiled roof crowned with Arcachon-style ornamental finials – that has been here for generations. Villa Colette, conceived by Starck and his friend and collaborator, entrepreneur Laurent Taïeb, is set back in a peaceful garden on the central Boulevard de la Plage, just steps from the basin. Built on a fictional heritage of invented memories, everything from the hyper-detailed design – 1920s-inspired custom furniture to sorbet-hued interiors – feels immediately comfortable. Within walking distance of the village shops and a short electric bike ride from pine-shaded forests and ocean beaches, it makes for an intimate, stylish base to explore this low-key destination.
Set the scene
The moment you step beyond the gate into the landscaped grounds – oaks, parasol pines, indigenous shrubs and flowering jasmine – it’s tempting to pause, settle into a wicker chair on the veranda, order a glass of Lillet blanc, and take in the quiet rhythm of the village and beachfront just beyond. Inside, the atmosphere shifts. Pine and rose scent the air, the house’s signature fragrance. A small curved bar, lemon-yellow banquettes and a backgammon table – custom-designed by Starck – sit alongside a handsome 1920s sycamore piano. Overhead, the deliberately low ceiling creates an immediate cocooning effect. There are clues to the house’s imagined past on display in a glass case of objects – a portrait of an elegant woman, strands of vintage jewellery – hinting at a life composed of personal fragments and imagined stories. From here, the space opens into a luminous dining room beneath a tent-like glass roof that opens to the sky. At the back, an open kitchen is framed by a colourful ceramic vegetable frieze. Mirrors recur throughout, each centred on a watercolor portrait of a high society belle; hung at a slight angle, each conceals a large AI-generated black-and-white image of a man – a suitor from her past, we are told – emblematic of Starck’s playful surprises.
The backstory
What began almost as a whim became Villa Colette, the result of a long-standing friendship between Philippe Starck and Laurent Taïeb, who had already collaborated on Paris’s TOO Hotel in 2022 and spent years together on Cap Ferret. One day, Taïeb recalls, while watching his daughter Colette ride the carousel on Lège-Cap-Ferret’s village square, he noticed a house across the street, half-hidden in dense vegetation. Slightly elevated, it suggested a view of the basin from above. What followed was the decision to acquire it: “we wanted to create something beautiful here, a little gem, a refuge,” he says. The name remained, though it shifted in meaning, becoming a tribute to Taïeb’s mother. Conceived as a home that might have been inherited and reinvented, its architecture draws on the Arcachon basin’s 1930s villas. Starck, for his part, imagined the house as belonging to a grande dame of French cinema – someone like Danièle Darrieux – decamping from Avenue Foch to what he describes as a “humble” seaside house at the end of her career. “I wanted to evoke a mood of happy nostalgia,” he adds.
The rooms
The beachy mood sets in as you step beyond the lobby into a low-lit hallway lined with pale pink and white striped wallpaper, carpets patterned with coral and seashell motifs. There are 28 rooms in total, spread over two floors, ranging from smaller doubles to two spacious Prestige Suites and the Suite Colette. Views vary – over the village, the pines or the Arcachon basin – but the design language remains consistent: Starck’s floral rugs and cushions, a Pucci-inspired scarf set under the glass top of a pedestal table, his signature wall lamps, and marble sinks paired with thick slabs of marble shelving, left rough at the edges in the dressing rooms.
The standout is a frieze of mirrors spanning the walls, with AI-generated “vintage” postcards of an imagined Cap Ferret – sandcastles suspended in the sky, a house on stilts (cabanes tchanquées), a child swinging above the water – designed to spark a sense of reverie. Bathrooms, stocked with rose-and cedar-scented toiletries, feature soft-pressure rain showers and low-set lighting that casts a gentle glow.
In the lovely Suite Colette, I woke to the sunrise over the basin and watched the pink and orange spread across the sky from the private terrace with my first hit of espresso. Inside, the room’s V-shaped lines evoke the prow of a ship. A square bow window and a convertible sofa – set beneath mirrors that create subtle optical illusions, reflecting glimpses of the street scene – can be closed off with curtains to create a cabin-like sleeping space, ideal for a couple with a child in tow. An antique mahogany desk sits to one side, the sort of detail that makes you want to write postcards rather than peck away at a laptop.
Food and drink
The day begins with a basket of flaky pastries, perfectly cooked eggs and avocado toast, served on your balcony or downstairs on the sun-dappled terrace. From the open kitchen comes a variety of Asian-inspired dishes on the lunch and dinner menu, with aperitif snacks such as lobster rolls on brioche and shrimp popcorn tempura. Among the highlights on the menu are grilled artichokes with mint and pistachio, wild sea bass carpaccio to start, and lobster ravioli, Japanese udon or milk-fed lamb for main dishes, served on Colette’s custom ceramic dishware shaped like fish and other sea creatures. For dessert, we shared an unctuous passion fruit cheesecake with a citrus marmalade topping.
The wine list offers a strong selection of local vintages – Bordeaux is just an hour’s drive. Rather than compete with Cap Ferret’s long-established oyster huts, Villa Colette rounds things out with tea-time cakes and late-night cocktails, including the “Summer Vibes,” a pale yellow blend of white tequila, lime and cucumber.
Wellness
Book a yoga class on the beach or opt for a private session. A spa is set to open soon, with a large outdoor space and two treatment rooms.
For families
Cap Ferret is a paradise for kids, and families are welcome here. The hotel provides all the essentials (cots, high chairs, changing tables), along with a curated selection of books. Six pairs of adjoining rooms (12 in total) also work well for teens, who can safely roam the village streets and enjoy the sandy beaches. The restaurant, however, is less geared towards younger tots, with no dedicated children’s menu.
The neighbourhood
Boulevard de la Plage is the hub of activity in this small village – a blend of laid-back Californian cool and Parisian boho – lined with boutiques, cafés, ice-cream stands and homeware boutiques. Be sure to request one of the hotel’s sleek beige electric bicycles for easy rides through the shady pine forest, to the lighthouse and on to Plage de l’Horizon, where the basin gives way to the Atlantic’s pounding waves – or to the neighbouring oyster-farming village of L’Herbe, known for its clapboard wooden cabanes and the striking red-and-white striped Chapel of the Villa Algérienne.
Service
Gracious, friendly and responsive to your every need.
Eco effort
The hotel incorporates a number of low-impact systems, including rainwater collection for garden irrigation and LED lighting controlled by smart systems to reduce energy use. Unoccupied rooms switch to low-energy mode and water flow is kept low without affecting comfort.
Accessibility
Two deluxe rooms are adapted for wheelchair users and the hotel is equipped with lifts.
Anything else to mention
Boat rentals are arranged through the hotel, making it easy to cruise the Arcachon basin with an onboard skipper, past Île aux Oiseaux (Bird Island), known for its stilted cabins, and on towards the Dune du Pilat. Or go native – head to the wild Atlantic side of the peninsula for a surf lesson.