As part of my accessible hotel series, and leading on from the last review of the Mercure Libourne St Emilion, allow me to introduce you to the final hotel Brett and I stayed in as part of our French and Spanish road trip, Novotel La Rochelle Centre!
Novotel La Rochelle Centre is a 4 star hotel in easy reach of both the seafront, and the city centre. There is a large car park with plenty of parking, and the hotel is extremely spacious with large entrance area, and the rooms themselves are also of a good size. The hotel has an outdoor swimming pool with relaxation loungers, fitness facilities and even a tennis court! The restaurant has a terrace area although unfortunately, we were unable to use the swimming pool and terrace area due to it raining during our stay.
We stayed in the Executive Room for this stay, which is the highest room available in this hotel. The room was of a good size with views out onto the swimming pool and terrace area. The room had a kingsize bed and Nespresso machine, as well as a complimentary minibar stocked with snacks and soft drinks. We also received drinks vouchers on arrival due to myself having Le Club Accor Silver status, a rewards program I highly recommend for anyone who stays at the Accor group hotels. We also had a surprise welcoming bottle of champagne in our room, as well as some antipasti (olives, cheese, tomatoes etc). The bathroom had grab rails and you could easily get a wheelchair under the sink, the bed was also a good level for transferring from the wheelchair and vice versa. The hotel also has signs in braille for those that are visually impaired, and a T-loop type system for hearing aid users.
The staff also spoke fluent English, with the exception of some of the kitchen staff on room service duties. The room service menus were also in English which helped me a great deal as although Brett speaks French, but I do not, and my translation duties ended when we had left Spain (I'm fluent in Spanish thanks to the amount of holidays I had in Spain as a youngster, and the fact that I took Spanish as a GCSE)! Checking in and out was easy, especially as I decided to take advantage of advance check-in as well quick check out. Even better, was that just like the Mercure hotel we stayed at in Libourne St Emilion, we didn't need to do a pre-auth on the credit card like you would back home in the UK.
Overall, the experience Brett and I had at the hotel was a pleasant one, especially with how helpful the staff were throughout the time we stayed there, as well as the premium feel of the hotel itself, mainly thanks to its design. This is definitely a hotel we will visit again, and hopefully next time the wether will be much nicer so that I can experience the terrace and swimming pool!
Look out tomorrow for my final post on the French and Spanish road trip, in which I'll be reviewing the ferry company we used to get to the continent, Brittany Ferries.