Surprenantes Destinations

The great novelist and playwright Jules Verne was born in Nantes, France. In the historic city center, a boutique hotel pays homage to his oeuvre with a collection of avant-garde apartment-style suites inspired by his books. The original architecture, featuring high-ceilinged, loft-like spaces with exposed stone walls and wide-planked wood floors, lends itself well to the imaginative interior design. The Voyage in a Balloon suite has a suspended bed accessible by a wrought-iron ladder, the Extraordinary Voyage room is partly constructed out of wooden shipping containers, and the From the Earth to the Moon suite has a sleek bathroom resembling the cabin of a spaceship. Across the board, the aesthetic is quirky but modern, the rooms stocked with luxurious amenities and furnished with a mix of industrial-chic decor and vintage curiosities. Many have views of the Loire River — indeed, one suite sits right on the water, housed inside a 1930s-era riverboat that’s docked nearby at Quai Henri Barbusse.