Most couples choose to set up a B&B after they’ve experienced a career life, perhaps because they realise they finally want to chase their ultimate dream. Instead, we didn’t choose to wait. After finishing our studies, we started working in the recreation industry at the Belgian coast and in the Ardennes. At that time, we chose to work only during summer season, so that we could enjoy traveling and surfing during winter. We traveled the world with our camper and crossed not only Costa Rica, Peru, Ecuador but also Indonesia and India. We enjoyed surfing African waves and experienced wonderful breaks in Australia and New Zealand…
We enjoyed our travels but at the same time, we realised this way of living could not last forever. Even the most stunning ‘bountybeaches’ get boring after a long time! Above all: we were young, ambitious and had a driven mentality.We yearned to find a place to stay forever where our lives could move with the rhyth of the waves. We searched to blend our love for surfing, our travel experiences and our work experience in one all-embracing plan. This is how we ended up sketching the concept of a place where we- as hosts- would be welcoming travelers, surfers and holiday-makers in a relaxed and warm way. During our own travels, we had searched for these kind of places to stay ourselves. We dreamed of creating a warm, stylish and comfortable place where we could welcome our guests in a personal way. A cosy place for nice chats, where our guests would be able to do whatever they wished for and could enjoy their stay in our little paradise. The only crucial question was: where are we going to build this warm nest? We thought about moving to Morocco but as we didn’t want to settle down too far away from our family and friends, we picked France as the ideal destination. For a moment we thought about Bretagne but as we were moving 1000 km anyway, we preferred a surfspot where the average temperature would be 6 to 7 degrees warmer than the Belgian standards. This is how we ended up in Landes, a place that hosts the best beachbreaks in the world.
We finally bumped into our little paradise in Labenne, a quiet village, though very centrally situated in a beautiful and popular touristic area. Not only does this region have a lot of well-known surfspots, you can also go on a culinairy adventure, enjoy the sea and the woods, explore the region or experience Spain and the Basque Country. For us this wide range of activities was a must.
We started small: 4 guestrooms, a porch and a guest kitchen. We didn’t really know what to expect. We were looking forward to a calm life with a lot of surfing, chilling in the hammock and some guests every now and then. But things turned out differently! After the first season, we personally built a new room in the garden that we named: the Beachhouse. A season later our B&B expanded again with a new villa, for surfing families. It turned out to be a great succes! After that we transformed all the rooms and bathrooms. Not only the house but also our family expanded. First we welcomed Milo, then Oscar came into our lives. We didn’t want the kids to sleep in the storeroom, the office, the kitchen or in the middle of our dirty laundry, as we did ourselves for years. That’s why we decided to rebuild our private living room to a bigger one. It took a lot of energy, it was busy and it sure wasn’t easy. But above all, we keep the good memories of the time we spent with the two of us, our family, our friends and our guests.
Luckily, we aren’t even close to tired yet. We even have something new in store for you! Introducing our all new mobilehome, available starting this year! You can explore the Atlantic coast in this full equiped vehicle at your own pace. We’ll be happy to give you some good travel advice!