Commercial in Pau , Pyrénées-Atlantiques , Aquitaine

This delightful maison-de-maître with its guest bedrooms, restaurant and outdoor dining terrace is hugely popular all year round both with people who live locally and with tourists visiting the area. In 2017, the current owner lovingly refurbished the restaurant and bedrooms, stylishly combining modern comforts with the property's original architectural features. Set around a courtyard, the buildings create a typical "Enclos Béarnais", which includes a large covered dining terrace where guests can enjoy delicious breakfasts, lazy lunches and romantic suppers alfresco!

The ground floor of the main building comprises two huge dining rooms for the restaurant. The first dining room has a vast open fireplace; the second dining room has a smaller private dining area at the far end. Also on the ground floor is a wonderful professional kitchen with a very well-equipped cooking area, a coffee preparation area, a washing-up and laundry area, a cold store and a small office area.

Upstairs, there are seven guest bedrooms, each with a private en suite shower room. All the bedrooms and shower rooms were refurbished in 2017. From the main building, there is access to an open gallery (above the outdoor dining terrace), with access to three rooms to refurbish, which could be ideal for more bedrooms, a family suite or transforming into a self-catering apartment.

The second floor of the main building is attic-style accommodation (previously used for accommodating the hotel staff) and currently comprises three small bedrooms, a shower room and a WC. The rooms will need to be refurbished. There is also lots of loft space which can be used for storage.

Across the courtyard from the main building, there is a cottage in need of refurbishment with potentially 150m² of usable floor space, which would be ideal for the owners to use for their private accommodation. The cottage has a small sitting room/kitchen on the ground floor, along with a bedroom, a shower room and a WC. The first floor is currently an open-plan space of 50m² and there is ample roof height for a second floor to be created above it. Both these floors could be converted into bedrooms or more living space. NB: the cost of conversion into a three-bedroom cottage has been estimated by an architect to be about 80,000€ - 90,000€.

The two-storey unconverted barn currently has a wine store of 50m² on the ground floor, along with an unconverted area of 100m², which could be ideal for transforming into a function room, conference room, yoga studio, art studio... The first floor has 150m² of open space to convert.

The grounds of 5,957m² include a large car park for guests. There is plenty of room for installing a swimming pool, a summer kitchen, a barbecue area, a boules piste, a children's play area...

This gorgeous property is located in the delightful Vallée d'Ossau, not far from the Pyrenean ski resorts at Eaux-Bonnes, Gourette, Artouste and Val d'Azun. As well as skiing, snowboarding and snowshoeing during the winter months, the resorts now have many mountain activities for holidaymakers during the summer months. For those who prefer the sea and watersports, the famous Atlantic beach resorts on the Côte Basque, such as Biarritz and St-Jean-de-Luz, are about 90 minutes away to the west. There are also swimming lakes not far away from the property - some with “beaches” - along with exciting white-water rafting and canoeing on the rivers (Gaves) that flow through Oloron-Ste-Marie and Pau.

THE MAISON-DE-MAÎTRE

Ground floor:
- a gravel courtyard with an outdoor dining terrace
- an entrance hall
- a large restaurant dining room with a huge open fireplace
- a second restaurant dining room with a small private dining area at the far end
- a professional kitchen in perfect condition with... a well-equipped cooking area, a coffee preparation area, a washing-up & laundry area, a cold store and a small office area

First floor:
- 7 guest bedrooms (2 triple, 5 double), all refurbished in 2017 and each with an en suite shower room
- a small sitting area with local information for guests
- an open gallery (above the outdoor dining terrace) with access to three rooms to refurbish

Second floor:
- attic-style accommodation for staff, comprising three small bedrooms, a shower room and a WC (all in need of refurbishment)
- loft space (useful for storage, but with insufficient headroom to convert into accommodation)


THE COTTAGE (owners' accommodation)

Ground floor:
- a small sitting room/kitchen
- a bedroom
- a shower room
- a WC

First floor:
- an open-plan space of 50m² to convert into bedrooms/living space
- sufficient roof height to create a second floor


THE BARN

Ground floor:
- a wine store of 50m²
- an unconverted area of 100m², ideal for a function/conference room/yoga or art studio

First floor:
- 150m² to convert


THE GROUNDS

- land of nearly 6,000m², perfect for installing a swimming pool, a children's play area...
- a vegetable garden
- a large car park


THE POTENTIAL!
 
This up-and-running business generates an excellent income all year round from both the restaurant and the hotel, but should the new owner wish to expand the accommodation, the cottage (once refurbished) could be used as a gîte for self-catering guests, as could some of the unconverted rooms in the main building and the barn. The installation of a swimming pool would definitely be an additional attraction for guests.

The unconverted barn could be perfect for converting into a function room for hosting weddings and other celebrations. You benefit enormously from having an excellent professional kitchen for catering for your large groups, along with offering stylish accommodation before and after events. If you host corporate events and offer overnight accommodation and meals, you can attract business people from both France and abroad, but especially from Pau, Biarritz, Bayonne, Bordeaux, Toulouse...

There is huge potential to accommodate large groups of holidaymakers, such as cyclists, walkers, skiers, motorcyclists... and you may like to host group activity holidays based around yoga, painting, photography, dance, music, theatre, gastronomy, wine-tasting... The unconverted barn could be ideal for transforming into a huge studio/gym/workshop for the activities.

If you do not wish to operate as a full-time restaurant, you might like to consider offering luxury lunch hampers to your hotel guests for their days out - or perhaps delicious afternoon teas with homemade scones and cakes, which will definitely prove popular with everyone, especially families with children!

The property is not far from the Chemin-de-St-Jaques-de-Compostelle, so you might like to welcome pilgrims who walk the route all year round. More and more pilgrims are looking for top-quality accommodation to stay in for one or several nights, along with hearty suppers when they arrive and delicious breakfasts before setting off again towards Oloron-Ste-Marie and Spain!


SERVICES & TECHNICAL

Telephone + ADSL (cable due soon)
Mains electricity
Gas central heating (underground gas tank)
Open fireplace
Mains water
Waste water treatment using an ecological reed bed system


THE LOCAL AREA

This beautiful maison-de-maître is located in the very popular Vallée d’Ossau, named after the Ossau river (Gave d’Ossau). The valley extends to the Spanish border, where you can ski at Gourette, or you can catch a small open-sided train at Artouste to travel high into the mountains. The area is also known for its sheep’s cheese, Ossau-Iraty. The Chemin-de-St-Jacques-de-Compostelle passes close by, from where you can follow the route to the riverside market town of Oloron-Ste-Marie and then on into Spain.

A good choice of supermarkets, restaurants and bars can be found in the villages not far from the property. For a wider choice of shops and amenities, the city of Pau is about 25 minutes away. The area has many excellent schools and children are transported there by bus. There are also regular buses to Pau and Gourette in the Pyrénées from several of the local villages.

Airports: Pau, Tarbes-Lourdes, Biarritz
Train: Gan, Pau, Oloron-Ste-Marie, Orthez
Coach: Pau, Tarbes
Ferry: Bilbao, Santander

Ski: Gourette, Val-d’Azun, Issarbe, La-Pierre-St-Martin, Iraty, Candanchú (Spain)...
Beaches: Biarritz, St-Jean-de-Luz, Hendaye, Hossegor...

Attractions: Le Petit Train d’Artouste, Grottes de Bétharram, Aqua Béarn, Parc’Ours, Gorges de Kakuetta, Passerelle d’Holzarte…
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Information about risks to which this property is exposed is available on the Géorisques website : https://www.georisques.gouv.fr