Bel Hotel Oléron Thalasso and Spa, MGallery Collection has opened on the French island Île d'Oléron off the country’s western coast with a 27-treatment-room spa.

Between the Atlantic-facing plage de Gatseau and the island’s pine forests, the 102-key property’s new look is the result of a major redesign of the original Novotel Thalassa, which had been built in the 1970s. The property is located in the Natura 2000-classified ecologically protected area of of Saint-Trojan-les-Bains.

The transformation saw MGallery Collection’s parent brand Accor collaborate with CLR Hôtels, a subsidiary of the French entertainment and leisure enterprise CGR group – which is known as the country’s largest cinema operator.

The spa

The property’s thalasso spa has 27 treatment rooms, and an indoor swimming pool framed by a mezzanine.

There is also a hammam, hot tub, glass-walled sauna and a herbal tea room.

Phytomer is the treatment partner for therapies at the spa, offering marine beauty treatments, massages and seaweed wraps among other services. 

The brand’s sea-inspired treatments are also woven into the experience within two of the property’s suites. A room facing the sea, called La Lumineuse, room features a selection of maritime fiction and sea-inspired bathing rituals are on offer. A forest-facing suite called La Domaniale offers forest baths and seaweed treatments. These therapies are inspired by the Japanese forest-bathing practice of shrinrin-yoku.

There is also a fitness centre and an outdoor yoga area that looks onto the sea. 

Other leisure activities available include forest breathwork sessions, paddleboarding, kayaking and cycling.

The hotel has a restaurant by Michelin-starred chef Pierre Gagnaire called OYAT – Cuisine des Dunes Pierre Gagnaire, which serves gourmet local cuisine such as seafood.

There is also a beach bar and a cocktail bar – called Cocktail Dune.

MGallery Collection

There are 125 boutique hotels currently operating under the MGallery Hotel Collection brand with 55 more in the development pipeline.

The MGallery Collection is part of the hospitality group Accor, which has a portfolio of more than 5,8000 properties in more than 110 countries.