L’Espérance in Penvern, it is almost a century of tourist hospitality

From the hotel to the campsite, it is a family affair

It was in the 1920s that Célestine and Édouard Quemper created the Hôtel de l’Espérance. The guesthouse quickly became a tourist hotspot on the Pink Granite Coast, thanks in particular to the Célestine lobster with armoricaine that attracts a large and loyal clientele. During the Second World War, the hotel will be requisitioned, the family will have to live several years in the cellar, doing an act of bravery and resistance, despite the occupant above their heads. Upon release, the hotel was devastated. Like many, the family lost everything and had to rebuild everything.

A few years later, their son Pierrot and his wife Léa transformed the family house into a “Bar de l’Hôtel de l’Espérance”, which became a very busy place of conviviality, Penvern was then a lively hub of activity. In the backyard Pierrot and his brother René develop another activity of the family : the delivery of wood and coal. Then they diversify with the distribution of fuel oil, and soon supply the whole coast with wines, ciders, beers, lemonades and other drinks. The SARL Quemper Fils then becomes a flourishing company by delivering daily hotels and restaurants, private individuals as well as local festivals throughout the Côte de Granit Rose.

It was in 1959 that Léa and Pierrot Quemper decided to create the Camping de l’Espérance to meet a new demand from holidaymakers. For a few years the families set up their tents in the fields belonging to the family, then arrive the caravans and quickly Pierrot and Léa begin to arrange the plots for more comfort. Laundry bins, sanitary facilities, bowling alleys, a wooden reception (the Kimi always present). Until the 90s Pierrot and Léa combined all the activities, the whole family is mobilized, then Pierrot and René sell the SARL to take their pensions. But Léa and Pierrot will continue to work together at the campsite until 2003.

In 2004 Catherine their daughter, and Alain her husband, took over the family camping and brought a new dynamic with the establishment of the first mobile homes to meet a new demand. Then will come the renovation of the sanitary block, the upgrading of electricity, etc … The campsite will remain in the family since the 3rd generation gradually takes over the torch to continue the family history.