Hotel near the beach in Saint Jean de Monts

The small hotel Le Bercail is located in Saint Jean de Monts in the Devallon district. The district's name combines "dévaler" (to descend) and "vallon" (valley) because of the configuration of the dune that separates it from the town center.

In the 1831 land registry, cultivated plots already existed in the heart of the dunes, long before the pine trees were planted. They belonged to Louis Pouvreau, known as "Mille Tripes" (A Thousand Tripes) because of his stout build, who cultivated renowned asparagus there. Today, the Hotel Le Bercail is located on Rue Pouvreau, named in memory of the area's historical owner.

Louis Pouvreau's heirs sold the entire plot in 1913 to an entrepreneur, François Billet. The first holiday chalets began to appear, but the First World War interrupted construction, which resumed in 1920. From 1925 onwards, the hotel, which was called "de la forêt" and "des sports," and is now Le Bercail, welcomed holidaymakers to a green and peaceful area just steps from the lively town and beach. At the time, three hotels welcomed the first sea bathers. Only Le Bercail remains today. In the 1930s and 40s, Boris Vian—a creative and politically engaged writer and musician—stayed in Saint Jean de Monts several times. He appreciates the sand, the pine trees, the ocean… During the summer of 1946, he wrote "I Spit on Your Graves" right here, in the hotel, in the shade of the nearby large trees. A few steps from the Hôtel Le Bercail, a square has borne Boris Vian's name since 2025 to rekindle this connection between the free and unclassifiable artist and the town of Saint Jean de Monts. Today, the unique architecture of the early chalets and seaside villas, the absence of sidewalks, and the bordering forest still make the Devallon district a charming part of Saint Jean de Monts. Now it's up to us to perpetuate the tradition of hospitality in Saint Jean de Monts!