Why? We went for a week last summer and stayed in the Plaza, a 1920s hotel. It was a bit of a gamble because it was the first time we'd taken our two children, Emily and Oscar, to stay in a hotel, but it was great. The Plaza is like one of those old English seaside hotels but with a bit more art-deco style, a bit more haw-hi-haw. There's also an old casino in Biarritz, so there's this strange feeling of stepping back in time. The thing we loved about it, though, was the golden, sandy beach, which reminded us of a cross between Cornwall and the Gold Coast of Australia. The tide goes out a long way so the kids can safely wander out, but there's also quite a bit of surf - there are a lot French surfies and Brits who go there. Being a proper Australian, my wife Margot did a bit of body surfing; I need slightly bigger waves to move me.

What's the best thing? The thing I loved about it - and this is probably typical me - was the fact that you had a choice of not just French food but Basque, too, because it's so close to Spain - paellas, platters of mussels and oysters, tapas, that sort of thing. It's also more relaxed because of the Basque influence, it's great for walking around, and you don't really need a car.

My perfect day: Going to the Chocolate Museum of Biarritz. Margot said we were going to walk there after breakfast one day, but we found it was a lot further away than we thought, it took an hour and a half, and we got there just as it was closing for lunch. We bought lots of fantastic Henriet of Biarritz chocolate though and scoffed it as we walked back in the drizzle. Then we had a nice little lunch, the sun came out and we went swimming. It was one of those four seasons in one day.

My advice: After you've spoiled yourself in other parts of France, go to Biarritz and have a very healthy, laid-back beach-side holiday.

• Jonathan 'Jono' Coleman presents the breakfast show on Heart 106.2 FM from 6.30am-9am.