My family of 4…including 2 kids ages 8 and 12 will be starting a trip at the end of March from San Sebastian and heading to the french Basque country. We fly out of Toulouse but between we need to decide what town to make a central location for us to see the basque sea side as well as the Midi Pyrenees towns. Our first thought is Bayonne but we are completely open to suggestions. We have 3 nights. Since it's not warm weather we thought Biarritz might not be so exciting. We will pick up a car once in France so we are able to get around better.

I based in Bayonne in 2004, and will do so again this fall.

Any suggestions of places to stay?

The place I stayed last time is defunct. This time I'm staying at the Ibis, don't remember why I chose it over the Best Western.

I like staying in villages rather than cities.
We stayed in Ainhoa, a picturesque village,
26 k from Bayonne. Our hotel and the restaurant are lovely.
Ithurria, Ainhoa.

We stayed in St Jean de Luz and loved it and the entire area.

You could be anywhere in France when staying in an Ibis property. There are some many great places to stay in the area, most reflecting the local culture. As noted, Saint-Jean-de-Luz would be a better location, and then Biarritz, for a coastal location.

Great. Suggest one that is walking distance from the Bayonne train station for the same price as the Ibis with as good or better reviews. You can include AirBnB if you like, because I also looked there. Note that this is far from my only stop on this three and a half month trip, so a few nights in an Ibis are not the end of the world.

I do not want a coastal location, I want one that is central for public transport to other places in the area. Besides, having visited both St. Jean de Luz and Bayonne on a previous trip, I much prefer the idea of staying in Bayonne - more to see, less touristy.

Bayonne is definitely not your normal tourist destination unless you're Basque for the US coming home for a visit. The Basque Museum is a must.

You can check out La Chamber d'hôte de Mano, a B&B that's 200 mètres from the train station.

There is also the l'Hôtel Cote Basque (www.hotel-cotebasque.fr), which is 5 minutes walk from the train station, at 2 Rue Maubec.

I have yet to find an AirB&B I would consider.

Well, all three are about the same price if you include breakfast. However the B&B is full for my dates, and the hotel gets worse reviews than the Ibis. The Ibis Styles looks to be in an older, renovated building (right by the river) so is probably not a cookie-cutter Ibis.

BTW, Bayonne didn't seem very touristy the last time I was there (2004), but there is a Rick Steves tour that spends two nights there now... (http://www.ricksteves.com/tours/spain-portugal/basque ) They sleep in the Best Western.

I am not a big fan of AirBnB myself, but I stayed in a very nice room in Aix last year (except it was up 78 stairs!) and will be staying in AirBnB apartments in Oslo, Pau and Barcelona on this trip.