Hôtel Jules César Arles Mgallery Collection

I liked very little- the bed was relatively comfortable.

Where do I start-outrageously priced, garishly decorated rooms, smell of stale cigarettes, minuscule bathroom, some off-hand staff, meant to be a 5* establishment, but frankly that is ludicrous.

We liked the location. It was in the heart of town. The staff was very nice.

Cab drivers! They don't want to work. The hotel was dated with the most AWFUL decorating we have ever experienced.

The Jules Cesar is located close to the Alycamps Roman Cemetery and within easy walking distance of Old Arles, with its cafes and restaurants. The building itself is a former convent, so is attractive with a lovely cloister and central herb garden. There's a pleasant garden area at the rear of the property, where the small pool is located.

Sadly, the hotel seems to be trading off past glories. Whilst the staff are very pleasant, the hotel itself feels nothing like a Five Star establishment. Our first room was poky and dark with a tiny window - and for reasons I will never understand, we had been placed in what was clearly a room that was adapted for wheelchair use (neither of us are wheelchair users), with a rail around the toilet and a shaving mirror at hip height. Further disappointments ensued when the hot water stopped working on the morning of Day 2, and my husband trod on a nail that was sticking upright from the bathroom threshold strip. We reported both problems straight away, but nothing had been resolved when we returned in the evening, nor - despite a second request - when we went out to dinner and came back at 20.30. The upshot was that we had to re-pack our bags and move to another room at 21.00 - not exactly a restful experience, and one which was dealt with very casually by the front desk. This second room was larger and better lit, but was painted entirely crimson, so it was like sleeping inside a pancreas (the Christian Lacroix décor is really quite tacky)...there was a small chair with a ripped cover in one corner, but nowhere for two adults to sit and read apart from on the bed or windowsill. The bathroom was fairly grim, with a wobbly, square black toilet seat that kept threatening to detach itself, and a black basin and bath which showed up every trace of soap or toothpaste, so looked horrible unless the cleaner had just been in. We didn't bother with breakfast as there are so many places nearby, nor with dinner as the dining room looked fairly devoid of atmosphere when we looked in. The bar was almost never staffed, so we didn't even have a drink there. When we looked at the bill, we could do nothing but give a hollow laugh. It was a ludicrous amount of money to have spent on a very lacklustre experience. We'll never go back.