Camping Le Pavillon Royal

The campsite is hard to beat in terms of location. There is a private beach, access only with a key card. The staff is very friendly, and my request to change sites was met with great willingness to help. The pizzas in the restaurant are excellent, and the supermarket offers everything you need. You can easily reach the surrounding towns of Biarritz and Bayonne by bus, and you can buy tickets at the reception. The sanitary facilities are okay, but I have seen better ones. Always ask about available spots, as there is often a sign saying "Complete" hanging outside.

Aside from the location, the site does not match its pricing at all. The only positive is the restaurant with the very friendly staff. At our site, the WiFi was practically non-existent, forcing us to move to one of the opposite sites to get a signal. There are two shower and toilet cabins across the entire site, the cleanliness of which left a lot to be desired. A cleaning in the morning and one in the evening is by no means sufficient when the site is fully booked. As a special 'highlight', I will remember that they were not willing to waive the costs for the additional booking for my daughter, who fell ill with Covid a day before her arrival. I was later informed that I should have canceled and rebooked on the day of arrival in order to take advantage of the trip cancellation insurance. However, this was not mentioned to me upon arrival. Two emails I sent to the reception after departure went unanswered. It fits perfectly into the picture - see the title of my review.

We arrived in mid-August with a VW Bus, just the two of us, and stayed for 4 nights. The location is incredibly well situated and has its own access to the beach, which can be reached anytime via a magnetic card over a staircase. From our plot, it was a 2-minute walk. Everyone on site, from the reception to the staff on the grounds, was incredibly nice and helpful at all times. It’s not always the operators, but in my opinion more the visitors who are ignorant, selfish, and arrogant. The fish rots from the head, which is also reflected in various reviews here or on Google about any site. This mentality of 'The world must heal through the German character' and the resulting behavior on site by some of my countrymen always shocks me again, which somewhat explains why we are so unpopular in the European surroundings. They just consistently order/ask in German in restaurants, bars, small shops, or other establishments and then wonder why they can’t get help. The grass is never green enough, the kids always play too loud, the toilets are never clean enough, the place is never quiet enough. So why go camping? Please just stay home or don't go on your all-inclusive vacation. All sanitary facilities were cleaned regularly. The toilets always have toilet paper and soap, which is cool because you don’t have to take it with you all the time. The little shop at the beginning of the site has everything you need for life and every morning fresh baguettes and croissants. Certainly more expensive than in the Intermarché 20 minutes away, but the prices are completely reasonable. Directly in front of the property is a bus stop (line 44), which goes directly to Biarritz. The day ticket costs €3.70 and can conveniently be purchased directly at the reception. Biarritz is worth a visit at any time, and from there you can also go further to Bayonne with a transfer. Super easy. Overall, the facility is absolutely okay, and the beach is just unbeatable. I wouldn’t stay there for 14 days, but that is more because I prefer to travel along the coast in small stages rather than stay permanently in one place. A very clear recommendation!

I cannot share the nearly consistently positive reviews here - some have been around for several years - and overall there’s at best an average rating. We were here many years ago and I was somewhat shocked at what a professional 'camping machine' the nice little 'Pavillon Royal' of back in the day has become. Positively rated is the exceptionally spectacular location of the site just above one of the most beautiful stretches of coast (which applies equally to the other campgrounds on the left and right) - ideal for surfers and other water enthusiasts. Also great is the small supermarket, where you can buy everything important, and the friendly service - although everything comes at steep prices; small tip: in about 20 minutes on foot, a larger Intermarché can be reached. Also positive is the cleanliness on the site and the maintenance of the entire facility. Nevertheless, we've unfortunately repeatedly seen isolated rats, especially in the evenings - it might be wise to set up appropriate traps here... Regarding the negative points: Absolutely incomprehensible is the organization of toilet and shower cleaning times, as has already been noted in other reviews - and this has been an issue for several years. Despite nearly full occupancy during the May holiday, only half of the sanitary facilities were open, and cleaning was reliably done during the peak usage times between 8:00 and 10:00 AM, during which the already limited washing booth offerings were further artificially reduced by barriers, forcing men into the women's area or vice versa. The highlight was when I suddenly noticed a window cleaner cheerfully nodding to me from above through the skylight, while he cleaned the window from the roof... best to take an umbrella as a privacy shield to the toilet (not entirely serious). In any case, it is incomprehensible that no response is given to these criticism points which have also been raised by other visitors in recent years - it already shows a certain degree of ignorance and arrogance. Overall, the sanitary facilities appear a bit dated now, which struck us even more when, following this stay, we traveled to another, ADAC-awarded site where it was impressively demonstrated how comfortable camping can be today... Although we booked our 10-day stay in the low season (May/June) as early as January, we unfortunately did not get to a spot with a free view of the sea - and unfortunately, no changes to our spot were possible on-site. This is especially incomprehensible because we observed several groups arriving after us, who according to their own claims chose their spots for themselves. For us (normal 7m motorhome) there was unfortunately no flexibility even after asking, as everything seemed to be set up in the computer at the campground office. Therefore, my advice to the reader is to have the exact desired camping spot confirmed binding based on the site map on the campground's homepage, which we unfortunately neglected. Finally, regarding the clientele: many young families with VW buses or campervans who come to surf - all very friendly and relaxed... for this target group, the campground is definitely a clear recommendation.

We treated ourselves to a spot in the front area with (partial) sea view. Attention: Since there are no trees there due to the view, one is correspondingly exposed. The private beach access via a staircase is perfect. The sanitary area is clean, and the staff is very friendly. It's worth mentioning the public bus stop nearby - in 10-15 minutes you can be in Biarritz Centre Ville (24-hour ticket for €2.20), which shouldn't be missed.

Beautiful site with direct beach access, very nice section of beach; there is a direct bus line to Biarritz, the bus stop is about 300m away, and it takes about 30 minutes to walk; nice spacious pitches with grass, hedgerow edging, electricity, and many pitches also have their own water connection. Unfortunately, the sanitary facilities do not match the expectations ("Five Stars") and reality: one of the two facilities was completely closed - well, that's fine - but half of the opened facility’s toilets and showers were closed, meaning that with an occupancy of about 50 pitches, only 4 toilets and 4 showers were available. This may be less inconvenient for the staff, but it is a significant imposition for the campers. The sanitary facilities were cleaned in the morning during the "rush hour" and men had to use the ladies' area and vice versa in the meantime. In our opinion, this is not good organization.

I got the spot I wanted. Staff is very friendly. Toilets and showers are always clean. Direct access to the beach via key card over a staircase.

once at the royal pavilion--always at the royal pavilion--our second home here there is nothing to complain about, it always gets better. since 1980 we have been spending our vacation here. the team under the direction of m. aloh takes care of the guests in the friendliest and most accommodating manner, leaving no wishes unfulfilled. the maintenance of the entire facility as well as the washing and toilet facilities are at the highest level. the supermarket and restaurant cater to the needs of the guests. we hope to spend many more years enjoying the most beautiful time of the year in this wonderful facility.