InterContinental Marseille Hotel Dieu, Marseille

The InterContinental Marseille – Hotel Dieu is a five-star luxury hotel that opened in 2013, yet its history extends over eight centuries. The site was originally home to the Saint-Esprit Hospital, founded around 1188, which cared for Marseille’s poor and sick for hundreds of years. After several expansions, the current Neoclassical building was inaugurated by Napoleon III on November 15, 1866, marking a new era in the city’s public health.

In 1963, the complex was officially listed as a Historic Monument, recognized for its architectural and cultural importance. The hospital continued to operate as a teaching facility until 1993, when the last patients were relocated. A decade later, the city of Marseille, working with private partners, launched a major restoration and redevelopment project. The transformed building reopened under the InterContinental brand in 2013.

Today, the InterContinental Marseille – Hotel Dieu features over 170 rooms and suites—some with panoramic views of the Old Port—along with restaurants, a spa, and conference facilities. During its conversion, archaeological excavations revealed the remains of a 12th-century chapel buried beneath the gardens and Roman mosaics that are now displayed in the hotel’s cultural area. Guests can stroll through historic vaulted corridors, admire 18th- and 19th-century staircases, and encounter traces of the city’s ancient past woven into this restored architectural landmark.