A hotel since 1799, this elegant 16th-century building has long been a favourite of Guide readers. Earlier visitors include Napoleon, Victor Hugo, Tennessee Williams, Picasso and the Brownings. In summer, it is a ‘cool, expensive haven’ in the noisy, hot city. It is ‘beautifully furnished’: tapestries hang in the stairwell; public rooms have flowers and antiques. The ‘impeccable welcome’ (bags carried, valet parking, smiling reception) is praised, and so are most bedrooms: ‘Ours was exquisite.’ ‘A lovely bathroom.’ ‘Service and housekeeping excellent, as was the front desk’. The rooms vary in size; quiet ones face an inner court; some at the back get slight traffic noise. Some first-floor suites have a large private terrace looking towards the palace. Michelin gives a star to chef Bruno d’Angelis for, eg, St-Pierre cuit à l’étouffé de figues et girolles, au parfum des Garrigues. On warm days guests eat under a huge old plane tree by a fountain in the small courtyard, candlelit at night. The buffet breakfast is ‘lavish’, although expensive at €22.