Les Prés d'Eugénie: Hotel in Eugénie-les-Bains

Les Prés d’Eugénie: the French art of living between poetic gardens, haute cuisine, and exceptional thermal wellness

In the heart of the Landes de Gascogne, where meadows gently sway in the breeze and old rose bushes perfume the pathways, Les Prés d’Eugénie has cultivated its own vision of French luxury for decades. Time seems to slow down here. Days unfold between thermal baths, Michelin-starred lunches, strolls through the gardens, and afternoon naps lulled by birdsong. More than a countryside palace, this iconic address is a deeply romantic retreat where gastronomy, wellness, and the art of living come together in rare harmony.

Located in the thermal village of Eugénie-les-Bains, on the border between the Landes and Béarn regions, Les Prés d’Eugénie stretches across a vast green estate. The wooded park, gardens, and surrounding forest cover nearly 20 acres. The scenery feels like an idealized French countryside, peaceful meadows, lily-covered ponds, fragrant vegetable gardens, rose gardens, and centuries-old trees create an atmosphere of absolute serenity. The mood is hushed, intimate, almost disconnected from the outside world. Guests come here seeking a form of luxury that has become increasingly rare: space, nature, and silence. Just a few hours from Bordeaux, Biarritz, and Toulouse, this discreet destination attracts both gastronomy lovers and travelers in search of tranquility.

The story of Les Prés d’Eugénie began in 1861, when Empress Eugénie, wife of Napoleon III, granted her patronage to this small thermal resort where she would stop on her way to Biarritz. After a quiet first half of the 20th century, the property was revived in 1961 when Adrien Barthélémy, captivated by the estate’s centuries-old trees, purchased the thermal domain. Six years later, his daughter Christine, then just 22 and recently returned from Mexico, brought her poetic vision to the property. In 1969, the house joined Relais & Châteaux, becoming one of the association’s earliest members. In 1972, destiny brought Michelin-starred chef Michel Guérard to Eugénie-les-Bains. Together, Christine and Michel imagined a countryside palace blending lifestyle, wellness, poetry, and haute gastronomy. Michel Guérard officially settled in Eugénie in 1974, and the property adopted its current name, Les Prés d’Eugénie. It was here that he created the revolutionary Grande Cuisine Minceur®, a visionary approach that earned the restaurant international acclaim and three Michelin stars as early as 1977. Today, the family spirit remains intact, carried on by their daughters Adeline and Eléonore Guérard, who have overseen the property since 2018 alongside Anne-Laure Nussbaumer, managing director of the hotel.

The architecture of the estate plays a major role in its singular charm. Les Prés d’Eugénie looks unlike any other French palace hotel. There is no ostentatious grandeur or dramatic contemporary design here. Instead, the property tells a story through historic houses, restored convents, thermal buildings, and colonial-inspired residences. The different buildings that make up this historic hamlet, La Grande Maison, L’Aile de l’Impératrice, Le Couvent des Herbes, and Le Logis des Grives, reveal a romantic elegance punctuated with exotic details. Ornate verandas, pastel shutters, Second Empire furniture, antique porcelain, floral fabrics, and carefully sourced vintage objects create a deliciously timeless décor. Each salon feels like an idealized family home, balancing aristocratic refinement with provincial softness. Christine Guérard shaped this poetic aesthetic for decades, and her presence is still felt in every corner of the estate.

The rooms and suites extend this feeling of refined retreat. Spread across several historic buildings, the hotel’s 45 rooms, suites, and apartments each possess their own unique identity. Some overlook the water gardens, others open onto rose gardens or shaded pathways within the park. Everywhere, the atmosphere remains delicately intimate: beds dressed in natural linen, antique furniture, floral prints, light-filled bathrooms, and freshly picked bouquets evoke the spirit of an elegant French country home. The experience feels deeply personal, almost private, with thoughtful touches that create the sensation of staying with aesthete friends. The suites within L’Aile de l’Impératrice are more theatrical, blending colonial inspirations with the discreet grandeur of the Second Empire.

It is impossible to speak about Les Prés d’Eugénie without mentioning its legendary gastronomy. The triple Michelin-starred Restaurant Michel Guérard, awarded three stars continuously since 1977, remains one of the great temples of French haute cuisine. In an elegant dining room opening onto the gardens, each dish tells the story of a cuisine that is both deeply emotional and technically masterful. As the founder of Grande Cuisine Minceur and a leading figure of the Nouvelle Cuisine movement, Michel Guérard revolutionized fine dining by reconciling lightness with pleasure, a visionary philosophy that has since become the standard. Since 2017, chef Hugo Souchet has carried on this legacy with remarkable finesse, elevating the finest ingredients from southwestern France through creations of exceptional precision. Fire-roasted lobster in a marine broth, translucent mushroom and truffle dim sum, and ethereal pastries compose a culinary experience as emotional as it is refined. Around this iconic table, the estate also offers several additional dining venues, including L’Orangerie, now Michelin-starred as well, La Ferme aux Grives, and Café Mère Poule, each offering a more generous and convivial interpretation of Landes cuisine. Altogether, the estate boasts four Michelin stars, an exceptionally rare achievement for a countryside palace.

Wellness is the other pillar of the experience. Housed inside an 18th-century Landes farmhouse, La Ferme Thermale has become one of France’s leading luxury thermal spas. Its two thermal springs, L’Impératrice and Christine-Marie, are drawn from deep underground to preserve their unique mineral composition. More than 18,000 years old, these waters are naturally enriched with minerals, trace elements, and thermal plankton known for their exceptional healing properties. Within its 21 treatment rooms, La Ferme Thermale combines the benefits of thermal water with the virtues of plants carefully selected by a trained herbalist. Treatments include the signature floating Kaolin bath with white clay, thermal steam baths, Sisley facials, Kobido massages, reflexology, Nordic baths, and outdoor saunas. Wellness rituals with poetic names such as “Garden Serenity,” “Spa Plume,” and “Like on a Cloud” invite guests into complete relaxation. Faithful to the philosophy of the house, wellness here is conceived as a holistic lifestyle where nutrition, sleep, movement, and pleasure naturally come together. Between treatments, guests can explore the estate’s seven poetic gardens, attend classes at the Michel Guérard Cooking School, relax in reading salons, or wander through the park’s peaceful pathways.

Staying at Les Prés d’Eugénie means embracing a slower rhythm of life. Enjoying breakfast beneath blooming wisteria, reading beside a pond covered with irises, or lingering over a Michelin-starred dinner late into the evening. Few hotels have succeeded in creating a universe so cohesive, delicately balanced between nature, gastronomy, and poetry. A deeply French, timeless, and inspiring destination where every detail reminds guests that true luxury lies above all in emotion.

We love Les Prés d’Eugénie for:

Relais & Châteaux member since 1969, Palace distinction since 2017
45 romantic rooms and suites
Poetic interiors imagined by Christine Guérard
Four Michelin stars, Restaurant Michel Guérard*** and L’Orangerie*
Exceptional thermal spa set inside an 18th-century farmhouse
20-acre wooded estate with seven poetic gardens in the heart of the Landes region

Budget

Double room from 270 € per night during low season.