L'Albiousse

Rooms

There are just 3 rooms and 2 suites. They’re all divine, but the Studio Room and Terrace Suites are just that tiny bit lovelier, with more space, bigger beds and Apple Macs for cool tunes and movies. The Studio Room has an in-room tub with excellent views, while the suites have their own terraces. Having said as much, the smaller Standard Rooms come in the same grand style with crisp white linen on super-comfy beds and pretty art hanging on the walls. In lots of hotels they’d be the best rooms in the house, so you can book these knowing you’ll get something special.

The design is deeply attractive. All rooms are regularly refurbished and while they’re stuffed with 21st-century comforts, interior design is specifically intended to sweep you back a few hundred years to the days when the house was built. Period colours mix with old stone walls, you’ll even find the odd mural. There’s gilded plaster, original chequerboard floors, then magnificent high ceilings. Thick curtains hang across doorways, windows overlook the lanes, there are books by the dozen and candles on the mantelpiece. Drinks in the minibar (still/sparkling spring water and milk, plus fruit juice and Cokes in the suites) are free.

Funky bathrooms definitely belong to the 21st century. You get concrete floors, corian sinks, walk-in power showers and Clarins potions. All have robes and slippers, too.

Features include:

• Air conditioning
• Minibar/fridge
• WiFi

Eating

Breakfast is served in the courtyard in good weather or in the dining room in cooler months. You get lavender-scented fromage blanc, fruit salad, baguettes and homemade cakes (our banana and pecan mini cake was divine), plus bacon and eggs if you want them. Wash it all down with fruit juice, strong coffee and Indian tea.

You'll need to head out for lunch and dinner, though tapas plates are available if you're arriving late at night. Uzès has some excellent restaurants that don’t cost a bomb, and you can walk to most in 5 minutes - just ask your hosts for their recommendations. Le Bec à Vin, an informal bistro, serves great food at very reasonable prices. It’s open all year, has a terrace in summer, and the wine list is irresistible. You’ll get delicious French tapas and cocktails at TEN, or good pizza and tasty pasta at Le Zanelli. For the best food in town - well, actually just outside town, a 10-minute walk - try L’Artemise, which we think is well worthy of a Michelin star.

Features include:

• Minibar/fridge
• Restaurants nearby

Activities

• Uzès market is the best in Provence. There are 2 each week, Wednesday and Saturday, the latter being the busiest. The lanes and the square are jam-packed, and you’ll find fabulous local foods, Provençal quilts, lavender-scented soaps, and rather good wine
  
• Come for the truffle festival in January, the garlic fair in June, or for the fête votive in early August, when bulls run and horses race around town. It’s the biggest festival of the year and the locals come out in droves. It lasts for a week
  
• Head down to Pont du Gard, the 1st-century Roman aqueduct built to carry water into Nîmes. It runs for 50km, dropping a mere 17m on the way. It is a World Heritage site. Either walk over it or kayak under it
  
• In Nîmes you’ll find the Maison Carrée, one of the best-preserved Roman temples in the world. And in Arles, you can gaze in wonder at the amphitheatre where gladiators once fought; they still fight bulls here in summer. Van Gogh lived here, too
  
• Head east to L’Isle-sur-la-Sorgue on Sunday mornings for its world-famous antiques market. It’s a very pretty town, ringed with small canals. You can hire a punt and potter along. In July locals clamber on board, then joust with each other
  
• Visit Avignon and its half-built bridge. Check out the enormous Papal Palace or come in summer for its Arts festival, with opera, concerts, theatre, lectures and exhibitions
  
• The wine fields of Châteauneuf-du-Pape are well worth exploring: visits to certain caves can be arranged. Beaume de Venise, famous for its deliciously sweet Muscat, is here, too
  
• Head over to iconic Mont Ventoux, a legendary climb in the Tour de France. You can hire bikes at the bottom (or the top!). Views stretch for miles

Activities on site or nearby include:

• Hiking
• Kayaking
• Shopping / markets
• Wine tasting

Kids

This is an adults-only place.

For more family-friendly places, see our Kids Collection

Location

L'Albiousse is set in the historic town of Uzès, 25km north of Nîmes, 40km west of Avignon and 120km north of Marseilles, in Provence, France.

By Air:
You can fly into Nimes, Montpellier, Marseille and Beziers.

From the Airport
Gwilym can arrange a taxi transfer for you or you can hire a car. It's an easy drive from all the above airports - see our car rental recommendations. There's no car park at L'Albiousse, but there's a reasonably priced public one close by.

By Train:
There are Eurostar/TGV trains from Marseilles and Paris to Avignon (40km from the B&B); and from London via Lille to Nîmes (25km away). Take a taxi from the station, or hire a car.

Detailed directions will be sent to you when you book through i-escape.