Welcome to the Hotel de Silhouette. - Some history... Biarritz Hotel

The Hotel de Silhouette is a result of complete renovation of one of the oldest houses in Biarritz which was built around 1600.
“In the middle of the Seven Years’ War, Etienne de Silhouette, the inventor of taxes on external signs of wealth, was awarded with the position of Controller-General of Finances under Louis XV on 4 March 1759.
To condemn his severity, caricatures of shadow profiles published in Gazettes were called “A la Silhouette”, and so the name of this unpopular minister entered the vocabulary of the French language.”

His house in Biarritz with the Coat of Arms engraved on the main entrance door is today the Hotel de Silhouette.