In the 1920s, Mr. Tarrissan made build by an architect firm from Biarritz, a hotel in Capbreton, at the current site of arcades, directly on the seafront, that he named “Le Mercedes” [in honour of his wife’s name of Spanish origin]. During the 39/45 war, the hotel was occupied by Germans who destroyed it while they were leaving. At the end of the conflict, Mr. Tarrissan perceived war damages but Capbreton municipality refused to rebuild his hotel on the same site. So, he rebuilt in 1953 the current hotel Mercedes which he entrusted the management to his daughter and son-in-law, Jean-Claude Weber, who was Hossegor mayor. From the 1950s to end of the 1980s, the Mercedes was one of the most beautiful flowerets of traditional hotels in whole region, receiving wealthy but demanding clientele, including personalities of all orders on resort on the Coast. Customers retained their room from one year to the next, in the same way that they were showing them self at the restaurant. The “mythical” side of the hotel dated from that time. Weber’s successor wanted to give a new, more modern, orientation to his company without knowing a big success. He therefore resold his business to a new investor who undertook a complete renovation of the establishment, deleted the entire restaurant part, removal that he compensated by installing fitted kitchens corners in all bedrooms, thus answering to new clientele demand.
Marie-Hélène Martens
Magazine Atlantica Hors-Série « Hossegor l’élégance océane » – June 2002
