La Rochelle, Saintes, Ile de Re, etc?
 

From a prior post, I received a few suggestions for hotels in La Rochelle, namely BW France Angleterre & Champlain and St. Jean d'Acre.

Any other ideas, I'm open to anything in the general area, includig all the other coastal towns in the area, such as Ile de Re and Saintes.

Something in the $150-200 (or so) per night range?

We're from the midwest, so something on the water sounds enchanting, but open to all ideas. Something with a nice restaurant would be a plus. annieladd

Well, where do you plan to base yourself?

For la Rochelle, I like the Hôtel de la Marine on the old port, or the Hôtel de l'Océan, but would like to try the Hôtel La Tour de Nesle, which has never had rooms when I wanted them.

Can't reccomend a hotel on Ile de Ré as I've always just made day trips out there from the La Rochelle vicinity. And never stayed in Saintes, but loved passing through it.

Chatelaillon Plage is situated in a resort community within a short drive of La Rochelle. The sandy beach is kept well groomed and an ingenious system restores the sand outside the seawall if storms should cause too much erosion. August is a busy time, with many French vacationers (we did not encounter any other Americans, but an occasional Brit). Tops are optional. There are concessions along the beach to grab a refreshment and plenty of selections available from smaller grocery stores within a block or two of the beach, as well. Low-profile condos and beachfront homes line the street across from the seawall, but access is easy and development is not overbearing. For nightlife, the casino has a large, outdoor area where festive drinks are popular and some of the swizzle sticks border on collectible. Musical performances and vendors make the waterfront the place to be, in season. Within several blocks of the beach are a number of informal restaurants featuring excellent seafood.

St. Cirq, I don't really know where to base ourselves, since I haven't been there, but I guess La Rochelle would offer the most to see within walking distance, so maybe that's where we should base ourselves. I'll look at the hotels you mentioned. So far, I'm considering BW France Angleterre, Hotel de Toiras (but kind of expensive 180E), Jean D'Acre.

From their websites, none of the hotels seem to have the charm of the hotels I'm looking at in Loire, Bordeaux, and Dordogne.

I did find a Hotel L'Ocean in Ile de Re that looks kind of cute, but would it be just awfully quiet to base ourselves there? We don't need tons of nightlife, but at least a little shopping, restaurants, etc. annieladd

Hi

if you book locally, you'll find it difficult to reserve a hotel costing more than USD 150

Peter