Appart'hôtel Odalys City - Nîmes Arènes - Palais des Congrès

For the price, we got much more than expected. The room felt fresh and recently renovated, and check-in was incredibly quick thanks to the particularly friendly staff. The hotel is in a fabulous spot, right across from the Arena. Call ahead, since some rooms have that great view. We had a wonderful stay and highly recommend it.

The reception team made check-in and check-out easy: efficient, helpful, and polite. Breakfast was delicious, with a decent choice of bread and cheese. The hotel is close to downtown and the tourist attraction, not far from the train station, and still feels somewhat quiet. I had a lovely stay, though construction nearby could get loud at certain times. It was noisy when I checked in during the afternoon, but quiet at 10am when I left. Also, the fridge buzzed quite a bit, which could bother a light sleeper.

Nîmes is a nice little city, but I’d never stay at this hotel again. Avoid it. We paid for the spa, but the staff first sent us downstairs without towels, and our card wouldn’t open the door. When we returned, the same receptionist gave us towels and got the card working. Later, we tried to book a room for our family the next day. A short-haired woman who seemed to be the manager said none were available, but we found rooms online and booked one. The next day she kept telling us our family’s room wasn’t ready, first when they arrived, then again around 4pm. She said check-in starting at 3 didn’t mean the room would be ready then and couldn’t say when it would be. When I pointed out we’d paid for it, she smirked and ignored me, then suddenly offered a room after I said this wasn’t a favor. Staff were rude and either didn’t understand English or preferred not to speak it. People like this are a perfect way to ruin a business.

We booked this 4-star hotel for three nights for a friend’s wedding, mainly for the location, spa, and parking, since Nîmes doesn’t have much street parking. The location was the reason for choosing it, but the parking was unavailable because of an Arena festival, and we were told it would cost €17 a day anyway. We understood it was a special weekend and didn’t make a big issue of that. What followed made the stay extremely disappointing. At check-in I asked about a room for my brother and sister-in-law for the next day, since they had a problem with their accommodation. One receptionist initially said yes, then a colleague, who seemed to be the worst duty manager I’ve encountered, signaled her and she changed the answer to no availability because the hotel was supposedly full. I checked online and found several rooms, then booked one without trouble. When I called reception to ask about spa and fitness prices, I got no useful information. Their English was awful and they couldn’t communicate, which isn’t ideal for a receptionist in a city full of tourists. We went downstairs and another receptionist booked the room. At the spa, we were told towels would be there, but our card didn’t work. Back at reception, the receptionist fixed the access and handed us two towels from the desk. She’d apparently known the card wouldn’t work and the towels weren’t downstairs, yet let us make the trip first. Our family arrived at 2pm, an hour before check-in, and were told the room would be ready at 3. We let them wait with us in our room. With the wedding at 5, we went to reception at 3:30, only to be told it would take another hour. That would leave us 30 minutes to get ready and travel. The short-haired receptionist was rude, laughed at us, and said that a 3pm check-in didn’t mean the room would be ready then, since we’d paid for the night. It sounded as if she thought the room could be held until 10pm and that would be fine. She said she couldn’t help and we’d have to wait. She refused our request to speak with a manager, claiming they weren’t available over the weekend and we could complain Monday. I’m 100% sure she was the weekend manager on duty and simply didn’t want to take responsibility. We told her she was unprofessional, hadn’t tried to help, and was laughing at us. She stopped smiling and suddenly found another ready room. At least two other couples were also waiting past their check-in time, including one who had been promised parking that wasn’t available.