Best Western Premier HBEO Bordeaux Centre ★★★★

Two eighteenth century houses, forty metres apart

The hotel is not one building but two, both eighteenth century mansions restored over an eleven month programme. The Bayonne house stands on rue Martignac, and its interiors carry the Art Deco character of the late nineteen twenties, when the hotel first took that name. The Etche Ona house, on rue Mautrec forty metres away, is decorated as a cabinet of curiosities, built around travel objects and souvenirs. Guests check in at one and may sleep in the other, which gives the address an unusual double identity.

Sixty one rooms, from sixteen to sixty square metres

The house holds sixty one rooms and suites arranged in four categories, and the range of sizes is wide: the smallest are compact city rooms designed for a short stay, while the largest suites reach sixty square metres and suit families or longer visits. Bathrooms were part of the renovation and use rain showers throughout. Because the rooms sit inside two period buildings, each floor plan differs, and it is worth choosing a category deliberately rather than by price alone.

Breakfast, lounges and fitness

Breakfast is the strongest part of the daily offer: a buffet of organic produce, artisan breads and pastries, cheeses, charcuterie and eggs, served in a room that fills early. The reception lounges double as places to work or to meet, which the hotel encourages rather than resists, and a fitness room is available to guests throughout the day.

A quiet street in the Golden Triangle

The location is the main argument. Rue Martignac is pedestrian and quiet, yet the Grand Théâtre is at the end of it, and the Cours de l'Intendance, Place Tourny and the luxury shops of the Golden Triangle are all within two or three minutes. Rue Sainte Catherine begins nearby, the quays and the Place de la Bourse are a ten minute walk, and the tram from Quinconces or Gambetta reaches the station and the Cité du Vin directly. There is no hotel car park, so drivers should plan for the public garages a few hundred metres away.

Why we selected it

We retained this hotel because it delivers heritage and silence at the centre of the Golden Triangle: two restored period houses, a wide spread of room sizes, a serious breakfast and a pedestrian street a few steps from the opera. It is a practical, characterful choice for a first stay in Bordeaux, and for travellers who want to be able to walk everywhere.