Hotel de l'Ocean

One thing to know is that this place isn’t suitable for everyone with mobility difficulties. Parking is about 300 metres away across cobbled streets, there’s no lift, and there’s no wheelchair access. It’s stairs as soon as you come through the hotel door. That’s an issue with the area rather than the hotel, but it’s worth knowing if you’re elderly or infirm. Otherwise, the location is beautiful, about thirty metres from the seaport and everything there. The staff were excellent, the rooms very clean and more than adequate, and the bathrooms spotless. Breakfast was the usual bread rolls, croissants, tea, coffee, butter, jam, and so on. My wife was right that the bed linen smelled lovely. There’s no restaurant in the hotel, but that’s no criticism when about thirty restaurants of all different kinds are right outside. The town is gorgeous, with castle styled harbour reinforcements and shops for all your holiday needs. And do watch the buskers. They’re really good, very professional, and play for hours at a time. We’ll be back! I’ve posted some pictures of this stunning place. Carefulnottight.co.uk

We spent two nights here in a family room for 3 during peak season. It was very small, dark, tired, and extremely dirty. Black dust covered the skirting boards and, worst of all, the headboard. The entrance and stairway were dusty too, so cleaning clearly didn’t seem to be a priority. We were told housekeeping wouldn’t clean our room during the two-night stay because of covid. Having stayed in various hotels in the Uk & Portugal during covid where housekeeping was still provided, we found that very odd. I carry antibacterial hand wipes because of covid, so I wiped away the thick layer of dust. We didn’t want to breathe it in, especially with the headboard completely covered. It was clear the room hadn’t been thoroughly cleaned for quite some time, which was unpleasant and very disappointing. I checked whether we could move hotels, but there were no vacancies elsewhere during peak season. When I raised this at checkout, the woman at the desk repeatedly interrupted me and wouldn’t let me speak. She didn’t believe us and kept insisting the rooms were cleaned regularly. I showed her a photo of the black dirt on my wipes, and she blamed the air conditioning unit, which we hadn’t even used. Then she called us ‘cleaning maniacs’. She was rude, unpleasant, and unprofessional, with zero customer service or care. We also couldn’t use the television because the plug and wires were precariously hanging off the wall, and we were afraid of being electrocuted. We tried to tell her, but she wouldn’t listen, took our payment, and ushered us away. Avoid this dark, dingy, dirty hotel. La Rochelle has many hotels, and for €115 per night, you’re sure to find much better accommodation elsewhere.

The harbour location is spot on, and I had a great stay. There’s no lift, though, so stairs could be a problem if you struggle with them. I’d come back.

The front desk staff were rude, and I didn’t get good customer service. They wouldn’t allow me an extra 30 minutes for checkout.