The Hotel

In the 19th century, Mr Barbe, a resident of Bordeaux, asked the Swiss architect Camille Martin (1877-1926) to build a private residence in the centre of Bordeaux. The original central building was built in 1895.

The street was then called rue Saint-Sernin, in honour of Jean de Saint-Sernin, director of the Institut des sourdes-muettes until his death in 1816. The city then renamed it after Abbé Charles-Michel de l'Épée, one of the precursors of specialised education for the deaf. He had notably participated in the creation of the Institution Nationale des sourdes-muettes in 1786, a historical monument still located at 87 rue de l'Abbé de l'Épée.

This 5-star hotel was first a private residence where various notable families of Bordeaux lived until 1968. Then a renowned doctor, whose activity as a physiotherapist required the installation of fitness and wellness areas for his patients, wished to extend the hotel. A new building was built in the garden.

The hotel was renamed Le Palais Gallien in homage to the life of the district in Gallo-Roman times. Only a few metres away, the amphitheatre of Bordeaux, nicknamed "Le Palais Gallien" by its inhabitants, remains the only vestige visited from the 2nd century. When Bordeaux was called Burdigala, this Roman arena was a central point of the city.