Jardins Secrets, Nimes, France - Explore & Book

"Stepping through an unassuming green door on an unimpressive city street, you find yourself breathless in an enchanted garden. There’s a banana tree in the corner, oranges and lemons grow in another. Bougainvillea streaks across the walls, a shield of bamboo shuts out the world beyond. Flanked by crisply dressed loungers and stone urns, the salt-water pool is shaded at one end by olive branches, fat with fruit; you can pick and swim and eat at the same time. Breakfast is taken on the shaded wooden tables on a brick terrace; at night lanterns illuminate the garden and pool. As for the interior, it's luxury to the power ten: cavernous claw-foot baths, enormous beds wrapped in the crispest linen, gilt-framed mirrors and chandeliers in the bathrooms. Murals, numerous salons, a sweeping staircase, oils on the walls, smouldering logs, three grand pianos, Toile de Jouy fabrics, Farrow and Ball paints, and marble fireplaces. The sounds of songbirds fill the halls, and the air is heavy with scents from the spa. This is what we imagine a desert oasis founded by 19th-century royal explorers to be like. Highs Nîmes is packed with history, and it’s only 5 minutes’ walk to the perfectly preserved Roman temple and amphitheatreWe could have spent hours lazing in the lush, peaceful garden with its cool pool Wildly opulent interiors and bedrooms designed with incredible attention to detailIt radiates history and grandeur, and makes a wonderfully romantic bolthole The spa, which can only be booked in its entirety, is simply magical Lows It's often full, so it’s worth booking ahead in the summer months Breakfast and light meals are pricey, but there are plenty of cafés and restaurants nearby The train station is 500m away; occasionally you hear a train passSome find the rooms to be a little dark and stuffy, and the decor is not to everyone’s taste" - Tom Bell