Lavaflow, I'm sorry to hear that the Chateau d'Arpaillargues will be closed. I hope it's just temporary, and not closed for good! Did they tell you?

cig, it was trip advisor where you may have read christina's report. She mentioned the foam rubber. Maybe you can cancel and book elsewhere. Thanks for my name. I know you liked it as your second one.

Lavaflow, if you're willing to stay in Nîmes, we have reservations in September at what appears to be a lovely small townhouse hotel called Jardins Secrets. Having only driven through Nîmes in the past, I'm looking forward to visiting and will be there for the Féria des Vendanges. An article about this event and the city is in the August/September issue of Saveur magazine.

www.jardinssecrets.net

Sue4-- I don't know if Chateau D'Arpaillargues is permanently closed. They didn't say.. but I plan on emailing them back to ask, so I'll keep you posted!

shellio-- That place you posted in Nimes is BEEEEAAAUUUUUTIFUL! So dreamy.. oh my gosh. Lucky you. We are definitely willing to stay in Nimes. But, I did come across 3 other cute places near Uzes that are less expensive that I am leaning towards. Now, I just have to decide.

Has anyone heard of these places?

Mas de Luna
http://www.masdeluna.com/en/accueil.php

Mas d'Oleandre
http://www.masoleandre.com/en/index.php

La Maison dans les chenes verts
http://www.leschenesverts.net/maison.htm

lavaflow, I haven't heard of any of those places, but I looked at their web sites and located each one on my map of France. I'd have trouble choosing which one to stay in! They all look wonderful.

Regardless of which one you select, you will be very close to Uzès. You'll love it; be sure to sit in a café in Place aux Herbes and watch the fountain spray sparkle in the sunlight. Look up through the plane trees and you'll see the red- and yellow-striped flag of the Uzès family fluttering over the Duché ...

I can't wait to get back.

Anselm

Yes, it is true I posted my report on Tripadvisor and mentioned the foam. Who knows, maybe some rooms have regular mattresses, but hotels usually buy the same quality throughout. Some people wouldn't even care about that or the AC, I suppose. Now I checked the online Rivages Guides de Charme and they said only half the rooms had AC; well, if that is important, someone needs to specify AC with Entraigues, I'd say.

I was looking through my things and most of the nicer hotels, villas etc I had considered were not really right around Uzes, but more in the Drome and Grignan area (where I did have a lovely stay at Domaine du Colombier after Uzes).

Other than the Castellas, I had found the Mas d'Oleandre B&B also, which you mentioned above. It looked rather nice and is nearby, but of course, somewhat modest. I suspect they don't have AC, either, being a B&B (although that wouldn't be important if it weren't a really hot time of year, and some people do not care about it).

I did find a really nice place but it was a little farther NW in that region and kind of in the middle of nowhere, and not right around Uzes-maybe better for the Ardeche.

Well, for just passing through, lots of those places look nice enough.

We have been in the Hotel d'Albiousse and we can't believe that it's closed.
It was a fascinating place.
Does anybody have more information about it? Closed permanently? New owners?

I'm not sure what the current status of Hotel d'Albiousse is, but I saw it listed for sale in France magazine! We had already had an e-mail from Tanguy informing us of the sale, but still, it broke my heart. If only I had the 1.something euros to buy it.

Tanguy purchased a lovely chateau in the Corbieres, if I remember correctly. He did send photos and contact info, but it's on my other computer.

That should be 1.something <i>million</i> euros. I do have a euro or two :). . .

Who is Tanguy?