The opening of 5 and 4 star hotels near the Nîmes Convention Center confirmed for 2025

One of the classic rooms of the future five-star hotel.

The former Hôtel-Dieu, home of the CCI from 1937 to the end of 2023, will become a five-star hotel by June 2025. Midi Libre – Archive M. A.

A view of the interior of the future restaurant of the 5-star hotel.

One of the old chimneys of the Montcalm castle, which will not necessarily be preserved in the hotel project. Midi Libre – Archive M. A.

La terrasse du restaurant La Table consulaire de l’hôtel cinq étoiles.

Le Grand Hôtel-Dieu, cinq étoiles, à la place de l’ancienne CCI, sera ouvert finalement au second trimestre 2025, et la Villa Arena, 4 étoiles, dans le prolongement du musée de la Romanité, rue de la République, à la fin de l’année prochaine.

At the beginning of 2023, the Gard Chamber of Commerce and Industry had permanently left the former Hôtel-Dieu, rue de la République, which it had occupied since 1937. A building that housed hospital structures in 1483 and which has been rebuilt or renovated several times (notably by the architect Wilmotte in 1988 at the main entrance).

A site steeped in history currently transformed into a renovation project to make way, next year, for a five-star hotel, Le Grand Hôtel-Dieu, which will have sixty-six rooms and suites, a restaurant, La Table consulaire, in reference to the not so distant past of the place, a bar, a spa and a seminar room.

What future for two Renaissance fireplaces and the frescoes ?

Initially, an opening was announced for January 2025. It will rather be effective during the second quarter of next year (it is already possible to book online, from April 18, 2025). As a reminder, the company Nîmes République Investissement (partnership between the boss of the hotel group Sowell Jean-Paul Schaeffer and the Banque des territoires) had acquired from the City of Nîmes, for 5.90 M€, the former building of the CCI.

The latter has boards, paneling, carved doors, a large ceiling frieze, wrought iron banisters, a Tavel stone staircase and two Renaissance-style fireplaces, which come from the Château de Montcalm in Petite Camargue.

According to our information, these fireplaces will not necessarily be kept by the current owners, without knowing whether or not they will be sold to a buyer. “One is located between two windows and prevents the partitioning between two rooms”, we are told at the Sowell group. It is, in fact, a reception room of the former CCI, which will be divided to create several rooms.

End of 2025, a 4-star hotel

The Aix-en-Provence hotel group will, however, keep the frescoes visible from 1937, notably in the council chamber of the former consular chamber. Scenes that bear witness to the economic, industrial and agricultural history of the Gard, which we owe to five regional artists. A show room will provide a better understanding of the future offer, which will allow Nîmes to have two five-star hotels, after the Maison Albar, near the Jardins de la Fontaine.

Sowell also plans to manage a four-star Lifestyle hotel, La Villa Arena, in a building to be renovated in the extension of the Musée de la Romanité, a stone's throw from the arenas and the future Congress Center. Eighty-seven rooms and suites will be available from the end of next year, with a restaurant, La Table d'Apicius, a bar and a cozy lounge. The opening is planned six months after that of the 5-star hotel, i.e. in the best case scenario, in the fall of 2025.

180 parking spaces

These two projects and the construction of the Convention Center will bring many visitors to Nîmes, in an area of ​​the city center already saturated in terms of parking spaces. Sowell confirms that there will be no parking for his hotels. An absence that also worries residents of the Porte de France sector.

The solution could come from the Tissot holding company and the GGL group whose project Porte de France, between the streets Villeperdrix, Dagobert and Hôtel-Dieu, includes four floors of housing, business premises and three levels of underground parking, including one hundred and eighty spaces for the public. Archaeological excavations are due to start in early 2025, but marketing has been postponed to an undetermined date, "due to the slow real estate market", according to the Tissot holding company.

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