Jardins Secrets

Grand 18th-century townhouse with succulent gardens, shimmering pool and sparkling rooms

Step off a city street and enter 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 urns holding sculpted box, 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 in the shade at wooden tables on a brick terrace; at night lanterns illuminate 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, four salons, a sweeping staircase, oils on the walls, smouldering logs, a baby grand piano, Toile de Jouy fabrics, Farrow and Ball paints, marble fireplaces. Opulent colours overflow in four high-ceilinged bedrooms overlooking the garden, while smartly-painted green shutters keep the morning light at bay.

Highs

• Nîmes is packed with history - a perfectly preserved Roman temple and amphitheatre - but not yet with visitors
• You're close to the centre of town (5 mins walk from the amphitheatre)
• Lush, peaceful garden with cool pool
• Wildly opulent interiors and bedrooms
• Incredible attention to detail - fresh roses everywhere, chocolate cake on your pillow
• Generous charming hosts who provide perfect, discreet service
• Direct London-Nimes flights with Ryan Air make it an ideal weekend break

Lows

• Small and often full, so worth booking ahead in the popular months
• The train station is 500 metres away; occasionally you hear a train pass
• Off-street parking is available for which there is a charge