Mr & Mrs Smith

The hospitality, the helpfulness of the owners in recommending excellent restaurants, their fascinating and extensive collection of art and furniture, the garden (a real haven) and the lovely and comfortable room.

A shower would have been a welcome addition to the bathroom.

The owners are well qualified to recommend restaurants and very reliably did so. We ate extremely well at Le 9 and at Le Passage de Virginie.

What a stunning secret garden, a great place to get away from the grubby heat of Nimes. A late afternoon snooze by the pool amongst the dappled sunlight is a must when you're staying here. Our room, Les Temps Des Secrets, was on the ground floor, perhaps request a different one as the room is quite dark and you can't really have the curtains open unless you want people to see you in your room. The upstairs ones would probably be better. Whilst in Nimes head to Le 9 for dinner in a beautiful courtyard with great local food. I had amazing mussels and some fish that I still don't know what it was. Beautiful setting and some of the friendliest service we had in France. We had lunch at a restaurant on the left hand bottom corner of Place Du Marches, if approaching from the Arenes. It was opposite the ice cream shop, very small but a great plat du jour, good rosé and none of the usual tourist rubbish. Sorry can't remember the name it had cute little white seating though. Also would highly recommend a trip to the Arenes, the audioguide is very informative and the structure is just amazing. Very impressive and worth the seven euros entrance all day long. Also, the covered market in Halles was much bigger than the one in Montpellier and good for wandering around, guessing what the produce is.

The hotel was lovely – a real oasis in the centre of the city. We probably did not have the best room, however – the Chambre Matinee is set away from the other rooms on the ground floor, but it backs onto the staff office which was a little noisy and intrusive. Also, €20 for a gin and tonic was a bit of an unpleasant surprise – particularly when that is the same cost as the terrific breakfast, which is a must. We ate at a restaurant called A La Table de Clair, at Place des Esclafidous (+33 (0)4 66 67 55 61). The restaurant is located about 10 minutes walk away and was outstanding. Michelin star quality food at bistro prices, and a lovely location in a secluded square. We paid €87 for dinner for two, including drinks and service, and the food was excellent. A great Mr & Mrs Smith break!

Le 9 in Nîmes is a very relaxed, simple restaurant. A lovely courtyard off a quiet side street, serving simple food all from the market. We liked a lot. The market itself is worth a trip and Jardins Secrets are very good about you taking food back during the day. Every day we would buy fruit at the market and eat it in the gardens and the staff provided us with plates and fruit knives. There are some local delicacies, such as Le Petit Nîmois, which are fun to try in the market too. On Mondays it's very difficult to find good places open to eat in. There is one local place, La Bouche du Marche, which specialises in rotisserie food. It's not the most sophisticated in the world, but choose wisely and you can find a treat on the menu. The wine list is good too. Villaret in the old town is a very good boulangerie/patisserie where they make the famous croquants. The ice-creams are also worth trying.

We ate at a restaurant with the fantastic name of 'Darling', just one minute away from one of the other restaurants, Le 9 listed in the guide. Fabulous. It has a Michelin Bib Gourmand mention already, despite being only a new arrival, and in my view completely eclipsed Lisista, the restaurant opposite the Arena which has a Michelin star. Small and intimate, an excellent Provençal menu and innovative amuse bouches that kept on coming to surprise us.