Hôtel Jardins Secrets — Hotel in Nîmes

This is a difficult review to write as this is surely one of the most unique hotels I've ever stayed in. Was it worth the high cost? In my opinion, no. Would we return? No. Did we enjoy our stay? Yes, indeed.||This 'hotel' is really more of a bed & breakfast. The staff leaves once everyone is in for the night. There is no way to enter, once the staff leaves because guests must be buzzed in. The couple who own it are friendly and accommodating and have a fairly amazing flare for setting a vibe. It's like staying on a movie set. Everything is very 'staged' ... if you don't embrace 'cool clutter', know that this will be a bit like staying in an antique store. There are interesting finds everywhere ... right down to the 'for show' containers in the kitchen. The style was truly amazing ... like staying on a set for a Harry Potter movie.||Know that about 60-70% of the mansion's interior areas are 'unusable' space. Sitting rooms that you'd probably never actually sit in, hallways with antlers, portraits and statues, etc. There is a courtyard with outdoor chairs and benches and a seating terrace laced with jasmine. (All of which looks like it's straight out of a Rizzoli architecture book.) One thing that was a bit weird is that even during the day, a LOT of lights in the building were off making it seem very dreary and almost 'abandoned'. At night, almost all the interior/exterior lights were off on property making it feel rather spooky.||The room itself was a bit dark and 'moody' with red walls and black velvet drapes. The best place to stay would be on the second floor in the main part of the mansion. (I guess these are 'suites'.) The rooms are bigger, there is a bit more privacy and the bathrooms seem classier. They also have outdoor seating on the upper terraces. Bottom floor rooms (junior suites, junior suites with terrace, etc.) are nice but tend to be a bit smaller and have a less private feeling.||Our room was a junior suite with terrace and it seemed a bit small and compact. The toilet was in a small closet behind the bed. Not much noise reduction ... so you and your partner will likely need to be comfortable with that. There was a big soaking tub in the actual bedroom ... and the shower was black tile and had a window with no shade! We were a bit 'shower shy' because there was an exterior door outside our shower window and anyone going down that ally could see into our shower clearly.||The mosquitos were TERRIBLE! I would highly advise the owners to look into a Dynatrap machine. We sat outside at 6 p.m. and had 5 bites within the first few minutes. The mosquitos were STILL biting in the morning and afternoon, which was surprising! The bites were super itchy. A few mosquitos got into our room before we realized we needed to close the garden doors and pestered us all night. This was hands down the worst part of our stay.||The bar looked nice but a small glass of bourbon was 40 Euros and cocktails were 20 Euros, so we skipped that and the 28 Euro/pp breakfast, based on other reviews. We were surprised that our room was 600 Euros, after taxes, and we were charged a 30 Euro parking fee. While the experience was very interesting and the staff were nice, we did not feel like the value was worth it, especially for a city like Nimes, and were glad our stay was short.||Having said all this ... some guests will be in their absolute glory here. Those who like history, interior design or art. There really is no equal to this place ... it's like staying in a mansion from the 1800's. And it made travel blogger Mr. and Mrs. Smith's 'World's Sexiest Bedrooms' list. The staff/ownership was among the nicest we have encountered during any stay ... anywhere. Know what you are getting into and this is a stay you'll talk about for years. It's like being on the set of 'Interview With a Vampire' and a very easy/safe walk into the main...

I am at a loss to understand how this hotel has acquired 5 stars. We had booked a two night stay to celebrate my birthday. A few days before I called the hotel to ask if I could cancel the second night- some friends had invited us to stay with them in Northern France. My request was refused on the basis that it was ‘high season’- which seemed contradictory as surely if rooms were in demand the cancellation of our second night would not present a problem. I then asked if I could be given a credit note for the second night but that too was refused. Being of the view that we did not wish to pay over €1000 for just one night we stayed for both nights and left early. The total inflexibility does not reflect 5 star status. |Nor does the fact that there is no restaurant in the hotel. We were told that a table could be set up in our room or elsewhere in the hotel. As we prefer restaurants with some atmosphere we chose to walk into the Old Town to eat dinner elsewhere. |When we saw that a continental breakfast was €28 per person ( and any additional juices charged at €10 each) we walked into town to have breakfast there too. |There were no coffee/ tea facilities in our room. A bottle of water was there on our first night but not the second. By that point, rather than search for a member of staff (only 2-3 in evidence during our stay and rarely sat at the reception desk) I simply bought bottles of water from a local shop. |Having enjoyed the most pristine clean pool at a villa we had just left in Provence the outdoor pool at the hotel looked decidedly murky and uninviting. I note that a previous reviewer described it as a ‘pond’ |Overall, whilst the furnishings could be described as opulent the hotel is very much style over function. For example whilst the bath at first glance appeared large and stylish the chain on the bath plug was so short that I had to place my legs to one side of it to avoid pulling the plug out! |Like everything else in this hotel the parking charges are exorbitant. Needless to say that we would not stay at Jardin Secrets again nor...

Overrated.

We were not well received, especially when the owner saw that we had two young children. This is not the kind of treatment one should expect from a 5* hotel and in fact very far from the industry standard we are used to.

The place is nice though, well decorated. One may find it a bit stuffy as it is surrounded by high walls and tons of exotic vegetation. It has its charm.

The train station is right next door, you can hear the SNCF announcements and the trains entering the station. Again, this is a bit surprising for such a luxurious place.

The food is good but a bit expensive.

I guess it's fine if you are a couple but avoid this place at ALL costs if you are traveling with children. In fact, the owner's wife spied on us during dinner, making sure our son didn't stain the chair (he did not). We were reprimanded at 8:30am by a very rude staff member during breakfast because our kids (2.5 and 5 y/o) were talking (nothing else) and it was echoing in the patio. But since we were asked not to have breakfast in our suite and were told to go to the patio, we went along..

If you haven't already done so, I kindly suggest to the owners that they turn away families and make this an adults-only place. This will prevent pathetic and stressful situations like the one we had.

I always leave positive comments. This one is my first negative comment but the owners went really too far.

I just hope that my comment will help at least 1 family...