Novotel La Rochelle Centre

Excellent location of this hotel allowed us to experience a lot of things by foot. All staff members were very friendly, helpful and polite. The swimming pool was a real bonus. Would highly recommend for families. Breakfast until 11am children under 16 free. Great value for money.

The pool is small for the number of guest rooms. One of the bedside lights in the room was not working and the air conditioning was poor. The restaurant menu is very basic. My wife had gnocchi, which I am guessing was not prepared onsite. It was clearly reheated quickly and at too high a temperature, which meant that the gnocchi was burnt but the cheese had not managed to melt into the sauce. The waitress was curt towards us throughout our dinner. This was not because we complained (we didn´t) or because we were not polite and friendly (we were). She did not pour our wine (she did on other tables), we had to ask for condiments (usually offered with fries) which were then banged down. I was served different fries to other guests that were also having Moules frites. Mine appeared to be from the menu enfant, as they were the same as the ones served to our child. The fries were cold. All in all it did not feel like a restaurant experience, more like a cheap pub serving reheated food by rude staff. The rooms start at 210 euros per night, so we were expecting more. Overall experience from experienced family traveler = Mediocre.