I stayed at the Kyriad with my wife in the middle of September – just after the bull fighting festival. I travel a lot on business and for holidays and stay at over 30 different hotels a year. The Kyriad has both good and bad points and I suppose a lot of these depend upon your perceptions and expectations.

To cover the bad points first:

Our room was very small and very hot (even though the outside temperature was pretty low). May be we were just unlucky and got the smallest room in the hotel, but really the room was only about 3 feet wider than the bed all round. There was a sort of rack to hang some clothes on, no wardrobe and no chest of drawers. The room had some sort of air blower unit, but it was certainly not air conditioning and certainly did not cool the room. It would be very uncomfortable in the height of summer. We decided that we only really wanted to sleep in the room, so made sure we only got back from our days out with enough time to have a shower and go out again. It was not a room that you could sit in and enjoy.

Despite what previous reviewers have written, we thought the breakfast was rather poor and only took it first morning. There was French bread, a toaster (but no sliced bread to put in the toaster), some ham, a bit of cheese and a fruit cocktail. Sorry, but I think its better value to eat at one of the local patisseries or even McDondald’s.

The hotel however, does have some very good points:

The location is excellent. It is just off one of the main restaurant and bar streets (the entertainment in the local Irish Bar was fantastic) and just outside the pedestrian old town. But no noise problems. Many of the other hotels that we looked at, like Holiday Inn, were out on industrial estates and required an expensive taxi ride to get in or out of the town.

The hotel has its own garage parking (about Euro 8-50 per night). This is vital in this area as there is a real lack of parking. The narrow streets almost guarantee that your rental car will be damaged by another car or passer by. Its well worth paying for – though its very tight getting in or out. If you struggle, ask the guy at reception – he is something of an expert at manoeuvring the cars in and out.

The room was very, very clean – as was the rest of the hotel and you do get tea/coffee making facilities in the room.

Price – Given the location, the price was very good

The staff were very friendly and helpful, whatever you needed.

So overall, if your on a budget and don’t want to spend much time in your room go for Kyriad. If not, may be try one of the other city centre hotels. The Novotel seamed in a good position also, but we did not go inside.

Six of us ( three couples )spent four nights at the Kyriad Nimes Centre in feb 2006. Cheap flights from Liverpool, the airport is about 10k from Nimes, there is a shuttle bus that meets the flights, 5 Euros per person, stops first at the railway station, then at the Novotel Atria which is less than 5 min walk from the Kyriad. Hotel is bright and cheerful, helpful staff, rooms are on the small side but comfortable, bathroom spotless, we thought that 60 Eur per night for the room was excellent value. Continental breakfast is also good value, plentiful and varied, extra at 7.5 Eur, good start to the day.
We used the railways ( 5 min walk ) to visit Arles, Avignon, and Montpellier, each about 30 mins, lovely towns, particularly Montpellier. Generally most enjoyable trip, any more info feel free to email me at alread1@tesco.net ......Al

My mother and I stayed at the Kyriad Nimes Centre late last year for two nights. i was a most enjoyable stay. We walked from the railway station and were greeted most pleasantly by the gentleman in charge. He allowed my mother to practice her French conversation with wonderful patience, Our room on the second floor (reached by a delightful little elevator) was compact without being too small. We were so pleased to find an electric jug and a variety of teas and coffees for refreshment. The gentleman receptionist provided us with a map of Nimes as well as directions to the main sites. Perhaps the best part of our stay was the great breakfast, lots of food , plenty of variety, breads, cheeses, fruit, yoghurt, cereals, All this for a budget price.