Ibis La Rochelle Vieux Port

La Rochelle


Even if you don't usually go for a chain hotel, you might make an exception for this: the 79 bright modern rooms of this contemporary hotel lounge behind the beautiful façade of a 17th-century chapel, built in a Jesuit style in 1628. The church was deconsecrated in 1887 and later became a warehouse. The striking lobby-lounge, with designer bar and sofa-strewn patio in an alfresco interior courtyard, are gorgeous spaces to linger.

The excellent buffet breakfast costs €10.50.


Lonely Planet's must-see attractions

Nearby La Rochelle attractions

1. Aquarium La Rochelle

0.19 MILES

La Rochelle's state-of-the-art, family-friendly aquarium is home to 12,000 marine animals and 600 different species. Visits begin by descending in a…

2. Tour St-Nicolas

0.21 MILES

The only tower to be decked out like a house, this 37m-high pentagonal stone tower has leaned slightly to one side ever since building was complete in…

3. Tour de la Chaîne

0.26 MILES

To protect the harbour at night in times of war, an enormous chain was raised between the two 14th-century stone towers at the harbour entrance to La…

4. Tour de la Grosse Horloge

0.3 MILES

The gateway to the old city, Tour de la Grosse Horloge is a steadfast Gothic-style clock tower with a 12th-century base and 18th-century top.

5. Musée Maritime

0.4 MILES

In a series of boldly coloured, red, blue and yellow canopied hangars at the Bassin à Flot, the Maritime Museum evokes the history of La Rochelle port,…

6. Musée du Nouveau Monde

0.43 MILES

La Rochelle's role as a departure point for North America is interpreted at this museum, housed in an elegant courtyard-clad mansion built in 1750.

7. Tour de la Lanterne

0.43 MILES

Easily mistaken for an ornate church spire, the conical 15th-century Tour de la Lanterne is La Rochelle's beauty queen. It was so named because of its…

8. Musée des Beaux-Arts

0.47 MILES

La Rochelle's Museum of Fine Arts, housed inside a stunning neoclassical building, hosts an impressive collection of 15th- to 20th-century art.