He arrived as a young man at the Hôtel du Palais to take his first steps in the trade, and left it a quarter of a century later having restored its former glory. Jean-Louis Leimbacher, general manager of the Biarritz palace from 1991 to 2015, remains one of the most discreet and decisive figures in the recent history of Biarritz.
It all began in Strasbourg, where Jean-Louis Leimbacher trained at the École Hôtelière. The Palais had drawn him since childhood — he likes to say it was walking past that building as a teenager that made him choose his career. He arrived as a receptionist in 1963, taken under the wing of an Alsatian director who shaped him. What followed was a European tour of grand hotels: the Savoy in London, a palace in Tenerife, back and forth between Val d’Isère and the Basque coast. He returned to the Palais as head of reception, then left for the Martinez in Cannes to further refine his craft.
In 1991, Mayor Didier Borotra gave him an impossible mission: turn around an establishment on the brink of ruin. The Palais only operated in season, its 135 rooms were in a state of advanced disrepair, there was no air conditioning, and selling the building off as apartments was being seriously considered. Leimbacher refused the decline. He convinced the city to keep the Palais in public hands, built a stable team, extended the seasons with high-end seminars and weekend guests, and immediately reinvested every euro earned.
Over twenty-five years, without ever closing the establishment, he oversaw 70 million euros of self-financed renovation work. The 3,000 m² spa opened in 2006 was named best in Europe in 2007. In 2010, the hotel joined the Comité Colbert, the showcase of French luxury worldwide. In 2011, the French Ministry of Tourism awarded it the «Palace» label — the ultimate recognition.
Since his retirement in 2015, Jean-Louis Leimbacher has not left Biarritz. You see him at the market, on the pelota courts, on café terraces. A Biarrot by adoption for over sixty years, he remains one of the few people who can tell the story of the Hôtel du Palais from the inside — from the front desk to the director’s office.