Located in front of the bell tower of the beautiful Sainte Catherine church, in the heart of Honfleur’s shopping district, Les Maisons de Léa hotel perpetuates a tradition of hospitality in this beautiful 16th century building.
In this house with an atypical architecture, the owner, Léa Lassarat, has elaborated a really cosy decoration, ideal to relax and to protect oneself from the sometimes changing Norman weather.
In this article, we propose you a return in images on Les Maisons de Léa, as well as our opinion and all the practical information for you too, to relax in this beautiful hotel!
This review is completely independent, we stayed anonymously and paid our bill in full.
Why stay at the hotel Les Maisons de Léa
Among the very rich hotel offer of Honfleur, the hotel Les Maisons de Léa has some serious assets to make:
- By its ideal location, Place Sainte Catherine, with an unobstructed view of the church tower, the church itself and the magnificent roofs of the Norman houses in the square.
- By its authenticity, you will stay in a 400 years old building combining a salt loft and 2 historical houses. It served for a time as a food market before becoming a hostelry. It has inherited from this past, a particular interior architecture, made of half-storeys and beams that go a little in all directions.
- By its cosy atmosphere, the advantage of having been bought in 2004 by a professional of interior decoration, Léa Lassarat.
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DISCOVER Honfleur
- Best things to do in Honfleur
- Where to sleep in Honfleur: our best hotels
- Where to eat in Honfleur: our best restaurants
- Best museums
- Visit the surpicious Sainte Catherine’s Church
- Discover the Eugène Boudin Museum
- Honfleur or Deauville or Cabourg: where to go?
Is Les Maisons de Léa worth it? Our review
The real question when choosing your hotel is in which part of Honfleur you want to sleep. A town of fishermen, sailors and merchants, Honfleur has experienced a veritable explosion in tourism over the past half-century, driven by the construction of the Pont de Normandie and the redoubled attractiveness of the neighboring towns of Deauville and Trouville (and historically of Cabourg and Houlgate).
But since it would be a shame to demolish what makes the city so charming, you will either have to adapt your expectations to the constraints of the city’s historic buildings or accept to move away a little to enjoy the heights of the city or the beautiful surrounding countryside.
But if you wish to fully experience the city of Honfleur, walking back from a walk at night around the old basin, the Maisons de Léa are for us a very good choice. This hotel mixes historical setting and modern comfort with a little extra something that makesyou feel really good, in the quiet, under the roof of this beautiful building.
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Decoration and atmosphere
In Honfleur, we do not joke with colors and decoration. You only have to look at the number of painters, mainly from the impressionist movement, who were inspired by the colors of the beautiful houses of the city, especially around the basin, not to do anything and spoil this heritage.
When you enter the hotel, you are immediately enveloped by the famous Normandy red, inspired by the paintings on the ships, which will accompany you throughout your stay. Other elements that we have noted from the very first minutes, the presence of small sweets to recover from the road, and that, we like very much! The tone is set, it will be a warm stay!
It’s hard to imagine a more complicated building to furnish than this old one, where nothing is straight, nor square, where the floors are half floors or worse… But we find this old-fashioned and untidy charm priceless. It just takes a lot of imagination and know-how to come up with the armchair that will cleverly complement the sofa in this not right corner of the room.
And if we are going to break the rules of modern hotel management, we might as well take advantage of it to allow ourselves the perfectly kitschy cushions and telephone!
Note the wallpaper on the ceiling to accompany this unexpected drop of the ceiling. A real interior design delight, we tell you!
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History
The stone building is composed of a salt loft adjoining two old houses from the 16th century. For several decades, the building was home to hallettes, market stalls that opened onto the square. From this past, there remains this very particular interior architecture with a large and beautiful glass surface opening towards the square, but also half floors with sometimes surprising volumes, fruit of this eventful history.
Transformed into a hotel-restaurant, it became thehostellerie Lechat, one of the most popular places in Honfleur.
After changing owners several times, the building was acquired by Léa Lassarat and her husband in 2003. This was a turning point in the life of the woman who was then fully involved in the development of thefamily decorating business, Interior’s.
This was the beginning of a professional reconversion in the hotel business for the woman who now manages 6 establishments in France. But you’ll see that the interior design professional is never far from the hotelier…
The breakfast
For the breakfast, we remain completely in the atmosphere of the room, we swap the red for dark tints but always as warm. We are not at the Hotel du Nord, but what an“Atmosphere“, as Arletty would say…
So, let’s go to the very good restaurant of the hotel, Le Tourbillon, for a nice sweet and salty buffet. Personally, we took 2 times applesauce (from Normandy) generously flavored with vanilla… And we enjoyed the homemade bread just as much as we did the night before at our dinner.
You will be able to enjoy your breakfast while watching the lively Saint Catherine’s square emerge from its morning torpor through the large glass surface or on the terrace in the nice weather. A real happiness to start this day in Honfleur!
The restaurant Le Tourbillon
At the foot of the hotel, you can combine your night with an evening in the restaurant Le Tourbillon: a cozy atmosphere, a cosy decoration, a cuisine respectful of local products…
Read our review of the experience
The equipment
The hotel has a spa with hammam, massages and treatments. You can end this moment of pure relaxation by enjoying a tea or herbal tea in a lounge dedicated exclusively to spa clients.
Price range
The hotel offer is quite important in Honfleur and the demand varies a lot depending on the period and the weather. If the prices are quite high on weekends, there are many offers for weekdays, and Les Maisons de Léa is no exception to the rule. The prices vary almost from simple to double!
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Practical information about Les Maisons de Léa hotel in Honfleur
Type of accommodation
Hotel
Where is the hotel Les Maisons de Léa
- Driving time from Rouen: 01h03
- Driving time from Evreux: 01h18
- Driving time from Caen: 54min
- Driving time from Alençon: 01h40
- Driving time from Cherbourg: 02h03
OUR ADVICE FOR RENTING A CAR IN Normandy
- Compare prices on our preferred platform: DiscoverCars – one of the best rated sites.
- Choose a car that is comfortable enough (distances can be long) but compact (some parking lots and villages are narrow).
- Think of thecomplete insurance (some roads are tortuous and narrow).
- There is a lot of demand, book it early.
How to get there
The city of Honfleur has been poorly served for a very long time, even if this has improved (a little) with the construction of the beautiful Pont de Normandie in 1988.
We clearly advise you to opt for the car by renting your car if necessary from Paris.
If you are more adventurous, you can take a train from Paris Saint Lazare either to Le Havre or to Deauville and finish by bus (minimum 3h30 of travel)…
And for having practiced it a lot, we are not sure that the train journeys between Paris and Normandy are much shorter than those told by Marcel Proust at the beginning of the 20th century. A real praise of slowness, or the opportunity to reread the complete“In Search of Lost Time” during the trip (7 volumes). It’s up to you!
Parking
When you think of poor transport links, the seaside and a tourist town, you think of parking problems! Even though the number of parking lots has increased tenfold in the last few years, they can fill up quite quickly in summer. The most convenient way to get to the restaurant Le Tourbillon is to park near the public garden, boulevard Charles V.
The city is not very large, so don’t hesitate to jump on the first place you see!
All parking lots in the center are paid and relatively expensive.
Do not make
THE SAME MISTAKE WE MADE
On one of our last trips to Europe, a hacker stole our credit card details while we were using a hotel WiFi.
So our trip began with a “card blocked” call… Not funny at all!
Learn from our mistake, make a small VPN investment to surf without worry.
Is Les Maisons de Léa family friendly?
If you want to come with your family, and your family is large, you can opt for La Grande Maison, which can accommodate up to 12 people, ideal for a weekend reunion!
If you have a smaller family, you can opt for one of the hotel’s suites with a sofa bed in addition to the double bed.
Be careful, several rooms are on the floor without elevator and with sometimes surprising stairs.
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Our top 3 things to do in Honfleur
Walk around the old basin
Became the most most typical of Honfleur, the old basin was used for a long time by fishermen and sailors who armed their boats in the shelter, before facing the dreaded Sleeve! Lined with tall Norman houses, some of whose facades are covered with slate, the old basin has inspired a whole generation of impressionist paintersinspired by the reflections of the water and the 50 shades of sky so characteristic of the mouth of the Seine. Let yourself be charmed!
Discover the church of Sainte Catherine
This church in the heart of Honfleur is a rare piece of religious heritage in France. Entirely built in wood, its vault has the shape of an overturned boat hull (15th century). Its oak belfry was moved to an annex building for fear of lightning igniting the frame, but also because it could not withstand the weight of the 6 bells sheltered for a time in the belfry. We particularly like the atmosphere of this church which recalls the maritime vocation of Honfleur with its numerous ex-voto plaques dedicated to fishermen and the sea.
Read our article.
Visit the Eugène Boudin Museum
Born in Honfleur in 1824, Eugène Boudin is an emblematic painter of the impressionist movement who was greatly inspired by the landscapes of Normandy and Brittany. He has become famous for his marine works, knowing how to render, like no other, theharbor atmosphere that we love so much. The Eugène Boudin Museum in Honfleur, located in the former chapel of the Augustine convent, houses a rich collection dedicated to the famous painter and the Impressionists, but also to lesser known aspects of Norman popular art (wooden games, posters…).
Read our article.
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