La Co(o)rniche

Don’t let the tricky spelling of La Co(o)rniche deter you. Just know it reads as non-standard for French people, too, and move on to the more important details of this rather spectacular hotel, located in the Pilat-Plage region, at the foot of the highest sand dune in Europe. If you haven’t heard of Pilat-Plage, you’re not alone, or you just don’t have any aristocratic French ancestors. Quiet and otherworldly, this is an off-the-beaten-path destination where the sea meets towering dunes and thick pine forest; it was the playground of princes, dukes, even Napoleon III. La Corniche was a Basque-style hunting lodge built in the 1930s, thoroughly updated by none other than Phillipe Starck in 2010 — which is when it became La Co(o)rniche.

The dark wood-lined lobby, with its oil paintings and period furniture, remains mostly true to the original. But the artful Starck touch is unmistakeable almost everywhere else, from fanciful glass sculptures and collage-studded ocher walls to a Murano lamp, designed by the French artist Aristide Najean, casting an ethereal glow over the hotel’s romantic old staircase. Guest rooms are located in the main house or in freestanding wooden cabins connected by a series of sandy paths. The former all feature private terraces with sweeping views of the bay or the ocean, while the latter, with gables trimmed with old-fashioned gingerbread on the outside but bright white and whimsical inside, featuring quirky art pieces and asymmetrical mirrors at every turn, add a welcome modern twist to the cozy cabin concept. Cabins by Philippe Starck, if you will.

The Carita beauty salon occupies its own cottage amid these cabins. On the edge of the property, Card restaurant does French-style seafood on a waterfront terrace lined with elegant white umbrellas. The adjacent bar, run by a friendly local, is pleasantly unpretentious. It has indoor and outdoor space, and good specials on oysters — a must in a region known in France for its oyster farms.