Elizaga & Arce
Numerous paintings by the French-basque artist Pablo Elizaga decorate the rooms at the Arcé Hotel of Saint-étienne-debaïgorry.the painter is recognized and especially valued for his representations of Basque culture and daily life. Static yet at the same time dynamic, his characters –both past and present– inhabit known scenes like the beaches of Biarritz or of Guéthary, and they are closely linked to sport: surfing, rowing, jai alai, and –above all– Basque pelota. His need to portray Basque pelota players over and over again until reaching perfection in their body movements was surely what led the owners of Arcé to choose Elizaga as their head artist, as the building that houses the hotel was formerly a trinquete (a traditional court for playing Basque pelota and similar ball games).
What one day began as a modest trinquete cafeteria soon became a charming luxury hotel thanks to the excellence in the work undertaken by the Arcé family which, generation after generation, has gradually updated the building (originally built in 1864). Currently, Arcé has 20 rooms and suites, a gastronomic restaurant, an outdoor swimming pool, and –of course– a small fronton court.
The restaurant deserves special mention: guests can choose whether they want to eat on the idyllic outdoor terrace by the river, under the shady plane trees, or in the indoor dining room, an old trinquete ball court decorated with period rackets and the paintings of Elizaga. Dishes range from steamed sea bass accompanied by oyster tartar, parsley sauce, and crunchy vegetables to caramelized pork with honey from Iraty, paired with tuna belly confit, blood sausage, sweet potato cookies, and chestnut and apple blinis.
It may be because of the pampering that the Arcé family has provided to its guests for decades or because of the delicacies they serve in their restaurant (all of which are made with local products) or, perhaps, because of the unparalleled beauty of Saint-étienne-de-baïgorry; whatever the case may be, the Arcé Hotel is like an eternal setting taken out of a painting – an instant captured by a great artist: Pablo Elizaga.