The arrival of Trenitalia's first high-speed trains at Gare Saint-Charles on 15 June is probably not the reason for the wave of hotel openings in Marseille today. Rather the appeal of a major metropolis which continues to move up the tourist map. At the end of May, Villa M took the place of a former Golden Tulip overlooking the racecourse and Parc Borély, offering the city a new top-of-the-range hotel focusing on well-being and health, as well as business meetings with a 1,000 m² conference centre.
Three new hotels are now expected to open this summer. The first of these will open its doors on 10 July and sets the tone for the destination's dynamism with a cheerful, contemporary address, the RockyPop Marseille. Born in the mountains, in Chamonix and Flaine, before moving to the city of Grenoble, this hybrid concept, combining rooms, flats and lively living spaces, is now heading for the Mediterranean.
Located in the Castellane district, in the heart of the VIe arrondissement and just a stone's throw from the Prado market, RockyPop Marseille is holding its annual programme of festivities around a large bar with arcade games and table football. There's also a terrace with a pergola and a rooftop, a restaurant with a brasserie corner, an Italian restaurant and a more gastronomic Mediterranean restaurant. There are also two karaoke rooms for convivial evenings.
This 96-key hotel, with rooms and flats for 2 to 4 people and a 9-person penthouse, is ideal for families and tribes of friends, as well as for all kinds of groups.and business groups. While promising moments of shared relaxation, RockyPop Marseille has both coworking spaces for solo travellers and, for seminars, a large 90 m² room, divisible into two, and a more intimate 24 m² sub-commission room.
Breaking the codes of the traditional hotel industry: a group from Marseille is also doing it in its own way. Not by applying the lifestyle canons like Rocky Pop, but by playing on a hybrid concept between coliving, Airbnb and hotels with its Juste brand. Launched in 2023 with the opening of Maison Juste, the story will continue on a date that could not be more "Marseillaise", 14 July, with the unveiling of a second establishment. Named the Great Just because it offers more rooms for 2 to 4 people - 50 compared with 18 for the previous model - but also because it pushes the boundaries of the initial concept.
As at La Maison Juste, travellers will share XXL communal areas with a lounge, library and landscaped garden. They will also enjoy a home-cooked breakfast in the morning and free coffee throughout the day. As at Maison Juste, the electronic check-in is total, with room keys sent solely to the traveller's smartphone. However, while the 'maître de maison' was only present from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. in the first establishment, a team is present 24/7 at Le Grand Juste. Another new feature is that 'smart corners' have been installed on each floor, with self-service kitchenettes and supplies for longer stays. In addition, the hotel has a digital luggage room - for a fee - and a bathroom that is accessible even after check-out for travellers leaving at the end of the day.
Located in the Notre-Dame-du-Mont district, Le Grand Juste is the result of the metamorphosis of a former 19th-century convent.e century, before becoming a nursing home in the 1980s. Renovated and decorated in a contemporary style, and awarded the Clef Verte label, Le Grand Juste lends itself equally well to leisure and business trips. This is particularly true for teams from the same company, as some rooms are interconnected and can be shared to create a truly private suite for up to six people. The hotel also offers two meeting rooms for between 10 and 20 people and, if there is no restaurant on the premises, a dining room with a professional kitchen for preparing team meals or bringing in an outside chef. It should be noted that the Juste concept should be duplicated in other French cities, with Bordeaux, Nantes and Lille announced for 2027-2028.
For its part, the Ginto group, which operates in Bordeaux, Paris and Biarritz and will soon be opening in Nice, will also be setting up shop in Marseille this summer, in the middle of August. This opening is the result of the conversion of an existing hotel, the Hôtel Maison Saint-Louis in the Noailles district, close to the Old Port and the Canebière. Redesigned by interior architect Dorothée Delaye, the building, whose history dates back to 1884, has been given a contemporary feel, while affirming its Provencal roots, to become the Amista hotel. Following the model of an accessible hotel playing on the codes of luxury and lifestyle, this intimate pied-à-terre offers 24 rooms and suites and also has a bar-restaurant, Le Louison, offering a short menu inspired by the great international classics revisited with a Mediterranean twist.
Marseille has not finished with the openings, as they are scheduled for the end of the year or the beginning of 2026, a Ruby lifestyle hotel, recently taken over by the IHG groupwill open its doors on Boulevard des Dames, close to the Euroméditerranée business district and La Joliette. Converting a former office building, the hotel will offer 237 rooms, a lively bar and a coworking space, topped by a 300 m² roof terrace with views of the sea and the Bonne Mère.
