Sodium cholate aggregates are adaptable host systems. The effect of changing the ionic strength with the addition of NaCl on the properties for guest binding to sodium cholate aggregates was investigated by using pyrene, perylene and 1-ethylnaphthalene as guests. Fluorescence, anisotropy and laser flash photolysis studies provided information on the protection efficiency of the aggregate bound guest, and provided information on the dynamics and correlation times for the host–guest system. Different trends for the protection efficiency of the bound guests were observed when the NaCl concentration was raised depending on the charge of the aqueous solubilized quencher. The increase in ionic strength was also shown to lengthen the correlation time of the aggregate bound guest and led to faster dynamics for the host–guest complex. These results show that the properties of sodium cholate aggregates as a supramolecular host system are significantly altered with changes in the ionic strength of the medium.