Hotel of the Week: Hotel de la Maree, Ile de Re

Last time I came to the Ile de Re I was nursing a stonker of a hangover after a night out in La Rochelle. I crossed the bridge, parked my bike at the nearest beach and laid still until I felt human again. Unfortunately, by then it was time to cycle back to the campsite on the mainland. I knew I’d missed out and vowed to come back again and do it properly.

So, here I am for the second time, crossing the two-mile bridge, this time in the comfort of an air-conditioned bus and minus the hangover. I’ve booked two nights at the Hotel de la Maree in Rivedoux Plage, one of the island’s quieter resorts and close to the bridge. The Les Mouettes bus (€4.80 from La Rochelle station) stops just across the road from the hotel, which is on the beach road with sea views (hence the name – la maree means tide).

The three-star hotel had a complete renovation in 2008 and has a contemporary nautical look. In keeping with its coastal location, its interiors are decorated in pebble shades of warm whites, greys, blues and plum. It’s only midday and my room isn’t ready so I pop down the road to a cafe for a panini and to pick up my rental bike. Like most visitors here, I will be exploring the island on two wheels. Some 19 miles long and three miles wide, flat and with a comprehensive network of bike paths (more than 60 miles in fact), Ile de Re is completely geared up for cyclists. It’s also beautiful, with quaint little villages, cobbled stone ports, vineyards, forests and beaches. I take my new transport back to the hotel and my room is ready.

Reception

It’s the cheapest of the hotel’s 26 rooms and although it’s fine for just one, I imagine it would be a tight squeeze for two. It has everything I need – a decent sized bed, in-built wardrobe, small desk, a collapsible stool for my suitcase, and a TV, but the bathroom is so small and narrow that when I go to splash my face with water in the sink, I bang my head on a shelf. After that, I learn how to wash and clean my teeth facing diagonally, with my head slightly cocked, to avoid another knock, but in doing so the water always ends up all over the floor. I feel bad for the cleaners, but it’s the only way. I discover on a quick tour later that the other rooms are larger and some even have little balconies looking out across the sea. I decide that next time I’ll treat myself to one of the duplex suites, with a cute little sitting room and a bedroom on a mezzanine level, both with sea views.

To get to my bedroom, I have to pass by the courtyard pool, sauna and hot tub, but I don’t get a chance to make use of them. There’s too much to see and not enough time. Known as the ‘White Island’, the Ile de Re is the most northerly of four islands just off the coast at La Rochelle. It has a Mediterranean feel, with limestone houses with terracotta-tiled roofs and shutters in various shaded of green (only certain colours are allowed). I cycle until my legs burn, determined to see as much as I can this time. The highlights are the Medieval morning market at La Flotte, the woolly ‘rasta’ donkeys in trousers at St Martin, the salt marshes, the galleries at Ars en Re, the beach at Le Bois Plage. I wish I was staying for even longer.

St Martin de Re

By the time I sit down to dinner at the hotel’s restaurant, Le M, I am more than ready for my moules frites. I sit on the restaurant terrace, across the road on the beach side, and look out across the calm sea and to the bridge beyond. The white wine is good and ice cold, and it’s tempting to order another glass, but I stop at two. No hangover is going to spoil it for me this time.

by Bev Fearis