LOLA Boutique Hôtel - Bordeaux Centre

A small house in the shadow of Saint Michel

LOLA stands on rue des Faures, one of the narrow streets that run off the square of the Basilique Saint Michel, in the oldest and most lived in part of Bordeaux. The building is modest in scale and the interior is where the work has gone: a modern, warm decoration that the owners use for photo shoots as often as for guests, which tells you how carefully the rooms have been composed. It is run by O Collection, an independent Bordeaux operator that also runs the Hôtel ROSA.

A dozen rooms, some facing the bell tower

The house holds around a dozen rooms and suites, and the ones to ask for are those with a balcony looking onto the basilica and its detached bell tower, the tallest in the South of France. At this size there is no anonymity: the same small team handles the arrival, the breakfast and the bar. Rooms are elegant rather than showy, and gluten free options and other requests are handled on an individual basis.

A breakfast worth staying in for

Breakfast is the signature of the house and it is included. It runs to artisanal breads, fresh fruit, homemade crêpes and pancakes, cheese and charcuterie, pressed juices and properly made coffee, and it can be taken in the dining room, in the room, or on the balcony facing the basilica. Very few small hotels in Bordeaux put this much into the first meal of the day.

LOLA's Bar and the evenings

The ground floor bar serves cocktails and small plates and is open to the neighbourhood as well as to guests, which keeps it lively without turning the hotel into a venue. It also means guests staying in the old town have somewhere to start or end the evening without walking back up to the centre.

In Saint Michel, on foot from the quays

The Saint Michel quarter is the part of Bordeaux that has kept its own life: the Sunday flea market on the square, the antique dealers of rue Bouquière, the cafés and the food stalls of the covered market. The quays of the Garonne and the Porte de Bourgogne are two minutes away, the Place de la Bourse and the Miroir d'Eau about ten on foot along the river, and the tram and the station are both close.

Why we selected it

We retained LOLA because it is the boutique address for travellers who want the old Bordeaux rather than the polished one: a small house, a dozen rooms, balconies onto a listed basilica, a serious breakfast and a bar downstairs, in a quarter where the city is at its most alive. It suits couples, weekend visitors and returning travellers who already know the centre.