Clearly a well-run place with everything provided and very helpful staff. Lots of heating in winter. Enticing courtyard garden. Very, very well situated for the historic sites and city. Walkable from station, and also on the free navette route.

Entering Le Calendal is entering home space: things look familiar and everyone is friendly. The multi-roomed first floor is reception, coffee bar and sit-down cafe. Upstairs the rooms are cheerful and certainly not tiny. Of particular pleasure (if it's your thing) is the Spa with its steam room, massage options and the huge Jacuzzi with windows looking at the roman amphitheater.

The location of the hotel is tops. You're in the middle of the amphitheater, the theater and a block away from St Euphemia. And you are on the same block with four or five of the top restaurants in Arles (see Tripadvisor for these.)

Not enough? Well there's Natalie who, apart from being charming and efficient, is a superb source of touring advice for the region, far and wide.

Don't think twice about staying at Le Calendal. I promise you'll like it.

The hotel and its terrasse overlook the Roman theatre. The welcome is warm and friendly. We arrived a bit early so we had a coffee on the terrasse. A little later, our luggage had been carried up to our room which had a view over the theatre and towards the cathedral. It was bright and furnished in Provencal style. The bathroom functioned well and we enjoyed our sessions in the hotel spa at the end of long, site-seeing days. There is a choice of a light breakfast or something more substantial. Light meals and snacks are provided at lunchtime in the ground-floor café. The public spaces are big with comfortable chairs and reading material and there is a charming garden at the back of the hotel. The rooms have wifi and several Internet posts can be found in the lounge. An excellent choice for a stay in Arles.

My wife and I were staying outside of Paris in order to attend a trade show. On a whim, we decided to get a TGV ticket and head to Provence. Best decision of the entire trip by far!

Arles in February is not "happening", but there was plenty for us to do. We were there for only Friday and Saturday nights, and the Friday night was decidedly a good idea, as Sunday there is precious little to do besides soak up the light and architecture (which is enough for me - but the shops etc. on Saturday, as well as the larger selection of places to have a coffee, meal, or drink, were very welcome!) Sadly, most of the sites we would have seen were closed for winter renovation, so we will have to come back. And we certainly will!

As for Le Calendal: excellent location, right next to the Amphitheater, which is obviously recently-cleaned, a beautiful golden color. We walked around many of the historic sites easily from the hotel, and had quite a good meal a couple doors down at a typical Provencal restaurant (l'Escaladou). There are few other good places to have a bite or a drink within a few minutes' walk (we wanted to hit Le Criquet, but it was closed for the season), as well as the main pedestrian shopping street in this part of the city (where I picked up a wonderful bright orange hard suitcase to house the various souvenirs we managed to pick up in spite of the low season and limited time we were there).

I loved the lobby and cafe - spread out in an organic, evolutionary fashion, well maintained, cluttered slightly with stuff of interest to various parties (kids toys, games, books, souvenirs ...) - comfortable, atmospheric (but not kitschily so), a place I would have been happy to laze around for the majority of the day, especially since there is free and fast WiFi. The cafe serves both the hotel guests and non-guests readily, has quite tasty fare, Leffe Blonde on tap, and seemed at least during the time we were there to be very well frequented. Possibly because all the employees were So Friendly.

We didn't sample the spa (the entrance to which is outside in the very nice - and reasonably large - enclosed patio), but perhaps will when the weather is warmer.

Our room had a nice rooftop seating area (overlooking what was once a courtyard but now has a modern pyramid-glass rooftop), adjoining one other room. The room was big enough, exceedingly quiet, with comfy beds and a good shower.

Highly recommended for any type of travel - business, tourist, kids, etc. Nothing fancy, but everything I would ever want. We'll definitely be back.