The Novotel is, as everyone says, incredibly handy for the old city of La Rochelle, and 10 minute's walk through the park takes you to the heart of the tourist quarter or to the harbour. The free car parking is a bonus as the city is pretty crowded, but getting to the hotel in your car can involve a circuitous trip around the town's one way system. Once you get there it's clean, neat, professional, and efficient. Absolutely no complaints about the service... although I did have to drag the bartender off hoovering duties once or twice.

Three or four minor glitches you should be ready for: the family rooms are not much bigger than a standard double. In fact they are a standard double with a sofa-bed provided that opens into two separate single beds. Space gets pretty tight if you have teenage kids and you have to stow your clothes and bags like you were travelling in a cramped cabin on a cruise ship. The worst aspect of this was that our kids complained about being kept awake by my snoring. They are too old now (11 and 13) to sleep through the racket. We would have been better off with connecting rooms but the hotel claimed it didn't have any (maybe there were just booked up and I got the wrong end of the stick - though the deskstaff speak excellent English). What with our swimming costumes and beach towels there wasn't enough room to hang up hotel towels to dry, so we had them changed every day... not very green. I should add that we heard no noise at all from the corridor or even the car park, so the soundproofing is good - the sort of thing you take for granted till you go somewhere that doesn't have it!

The hotel pool is shaded for much of the day, by the hotel itself or the trees that shade the hotel from the road nearby. There aren't many sunbeds either, only about a dozen, and people have the rather selfish habit of leaving towels on them and disappearing - a pain when they're so few and far between. The pool itself is pleasant and cool but quite deep (80cms- 250cms) - not toddler friendly but great for kids who swim well.

The wife complained the scrambled eggs were a bit cold at breakfast! My kids thought the breakfast was great however - and the staff seem to have got their act together about replenishing the food (see older review). No breakfast charges for kids, even ones who eat like horses, such as ours, so it worked out at 7 euros a head, which was fair value.

My only other grumble was the price of the drinks at the bar - but La Rochelle, indeed all of France, is hardly the place to go for cheap beer, so you can disregard that.

Definitely recommended - I would go there again. I normally prefer older hotels with a bit more character - it did look a bit like an office block - but the sheer convenience and professionalism of this Novotel outweighed those considerations.