15 rue Gaston Boissier, Quai de la Fontaine, Gard
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Nîmes keeps unusual time. The Maison Carrée, a Roman temple in near-perfect condition, has stood in the middle of town for some two thousand years, and the arena a few streets away is barely younger. In a city like that, L'Imperator, the grand hotel of Nîmes, counts as a teenager. The hotel opened in 1929 behind an Art Deco façade a short stroll from the temple and the Jardins de la Fontaine, and after a thorough renovation it now holds some sixty rooms and private houses, with a garden at its heart.
Nearly a century has left its marks, and the renovation kept the best of them. The old lift still rises through the house and the grand staircase still curves up from the lobby. For generations the Nîmois have treated the place as their living room, the address for a drink or a long lunch. The bedrooms are a different story: light and contemporary, with leather headboards and marble bathrooms, more Riviera than Roman. Some will miss a little old dust. Most will not.
The garden runs on a far longer clock. Paths wind past fountains through a thousand square metres behind the house, around a magnificent ginkgo, a tree whose family has been on earth for some two hundred million years and which makes even the Romans look like latecomers. In summer the outdoor pool shimmers alongside, and at aperitif time the paths fill with people who have no intention of being anywhere else.
Twice a year, for a few days at Pentecost and again at the grape harvest, Nîmes holds its feria and turns briefly Spanish, with brass bands in the streets and very late nights. L'Imperator has long been the epicentre. L'Impé, the brasserie, throws open a bodega of its own and the garden hums into the small hours, so an early night is not really on the programme.
The rest of the year, evenings are gentler. L'Impé cooks the flavours of Provence and the Camargue for tables under the trees, while Duende, the small gastronomic room overseen by Pierre Gagnaire, seats barely two dozen. Its name is the Spanish word for the shiver a great flamenco singer sends down the spine, and the kitchen takes the challenge seriously.
A weekend is about right. The temple and the arena are both a stroll away, and when the weather turns, the spa offers an indoor pool. Families and groups of friends can take one of the private houses across the cloister. Couples who love a city break with a garden attached will be happiest of all. Anyone who prefers calm will want to check the feria dates before booking, while feria lovers should reserve early and plan to sleep late.
In Nîmes, two thousand years is nothing special and two hundred million is merely a tree. L'Imperator, at not quite a hundred, is the youngest thing in the garden, and it seems to be enjoying itself enormously.
In print
In The Garden of Eden, Ernest Hemingway sends his couple riding down to Nîmes with the mistral, to stay at the Imperator. The hotel names a house after him, and another after Ava Gardner.
The ground floor opens with a stone staircase curving up on blue-carpeted steps, tall wrought-iron doors drawn in Art Deco curves and a mustard sofa under hanging discs of light. The hotel says its Art Deco atmosphere survives; it shows here first. The lobby leads straight through to the garden, Bar Hemingway and L'Impé, so it works as a crossroads rather than a waiting room.
Behind the house lies the inner garden: gravel paths, potted shrubs, old trees and a white pergola over lounge chairs. The hotel calls its ginkgo biloba centennial, and L'Impé serves from breakfast to dinner in its shade, with Bar Hemingway across the garden for cocktails and tapas. Maison Ginkgo and Maison El Cordobes have terraces looking onto it, which makes them the front row.
A long outdoor pool lies in the garden, lined with loungers and white parasols under tall trees. It is included for staying guests, though in summer the spa also sells lounger packages to visitors, so weekend middays can be busy. A summer menu of cocktails and plates to share is served poolside. On cooler days the spa downstairs has an indoor pool with counter-current swimming.
Maison Ginkgo is one of the seven private houses within the hotel: 100 m² on two floors, two bedrooms, a living room with a fitted kitchen and a terrace looking over the garden to the tree it is named after. Keys can be sent before arrival, a basket of groceries can be waiting, and the hotel's room service and pools come with it.
At a glance
Where
15 rue Gaston Boissier, Quai de la Fontaine, 30900 Nîmes, Gard, Occitanie; near the Jardins de la Fontaine. On foot: Maison Carrée about three minutes, Les Halles seven, Tour Magne nine, Arènes ten. Nîmes station under 2 km (bus line 16, Pont de Vierne stop); A9 exit 25 Nîmes-Centre; Nîmes airport 13 km, Montpellier airport 55 km, Marseille Provence airport 109 km. GPS 43.83820, 4.35395
Why this one
L'Impé serves in the garden.
Seven, with kitchens and terraces.
One in the garden, one in the spa.
The Edit Notes
The rooms are compact at the start: a Superior has 20 m², an Executive 29 m², and balconies are offered only where available. The Imperator Suite takes two adults and one child, and the hotel offers connecting rooms. A family of four or friends travelling together do better in one of the seven houses, each with a kitchen and most with a bathroom for every bedroom. Maison Imperator has its own 50 m² garden; Maison Hemingway, with four bedrooms, is the largest.
Duende does not serve every day. Its own page lists dinner from Thursday to Saturday and lunch from Friday to Sunday, while the hotel's FAQ still gives an older schedule, so the restaurant should confirm the night when booking. The dinner-and-room package runs only on Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights and must be reserved at least four days ahead. On the other evenings L'Impé, open every day under the same chef's menus, is the table in the garden.
Nîmes holds its ferias twice a year, and the hotel lists its own Bodega and the ferias among the news it sends out, which says how central those days are to the house. The hotel does not publish the dates on its rooms pages; the city's feria calendar does. Anyone after quiet nights should plan around those weekends. Anyone coming for the feria should book well ahead and pick a house with a garden-view terrace, such as Ginkgo or El Cordobes.
Nîmes station is under two kilometres away, and bus line 16 runs from the station to the Pont de Vierne stop near the hotel; the hotel will also book a taxi. Drivers leave the A9 at exit 25, Nîmes-Centre, and follow the signs for the Quai de la Fontaine. There is private parking with valet service, booked through reception. Once there, the Maison Carrée is a few minutes on foot, Les Halles about seven and the Arènes about ten.
The price question
The money buys a garden hotel in the middle of a Roman city: a ginkgo, an outdoor pool and a spa within a few minutes' walk of the Maison Carrée, with Pierre Gagnaire's menus at three venues. It does not buy space at entry level, a gastronomic dinner every night, or quiet during the ferias. The fair comparison is a vineyard estate outside Montpellier, with more room and less town.
Book it for a weekend in Nîmes built around the garden, with one dinner at Duende fixed first and the rest at L'Impé. A family or a group of friends should take a house rather than rooms. Anyone wanting a quiet city break should check the feria calendar before choosing dates.
Domaine de Verchant
A vineyard estate at Castelnau-le-Lez, on the edge of Montpellier: 49 rooms and suites in the Maison de Maître and a contemporary wing, a park, a spa with an indoor pool, and the restaurants Marcelle and La Plage beside the pool facing the vines.
Château & Village Castigno
Twenty-one rooms in coloured houses around the square of the hill village of Assignan, in Saint-Chinian country, with a detached villa with its own pool, three restaurants, a small spa and a cellar shaped like a bottle among 30 hectares of organic vines.
The Extra Edit
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