Hôtel Les Hauts de Mourèze

If your ideal land-based base involves a quiet village, a proper outdoor pool and a landscape worth walking through, Hôtel Les Hauts de Mourèze has a clear proposition. You stay just outside Mourèze, with traditional-style rooms, garden and mountain views, and enough outdoor space to make the return from a long day feel unhurried rather than over-programmed.

The tone is practical and relaxed. You have a shared lounge with a TV, a garden, a sun terrace and outdoor furniture, while the heated pool gives you somewhere to stretch out when the legs have had enough of walking. The hotel has been open since 1974, and its appeal is less about polished resort theatre than about having a comfortable base in a striking corner of the Hérault.

The address is Impasse Pioch Rascas Haut, just outside Mourèze in France. This is inland rather than seaside accommodation: the scenery is the Cirque de Mourèze, the garden and the surrounding hills, not a beach outside your door. Mourèze village restaurants are within roughly a five-minute walk, which is useful when you want dinner without turning the evening into another driving expedition.

Lac du Salagou is about 1.5 miles away, and the hotel places the lake and Clermont-l’Hérault within a ten-minute drive. For a wider outing, Domaine départemental des Trois Fontaines is about 6 miles away. The hotel is also well placed for longer excursions towards the Vallée du Salagou, Saint-Guilhem-le-Désert, the Gorges d’Héric, the Gorges de Colombières and La Couvertoirade.

The room choice is mainly about how much space and outdoor access you want. A Double Room with Terrace or one of the balcony rooms suits a couple who would rather have a private outdoor corner than extra indoor room. Mountain, panoramic, garden and pool views let you choose what you want to see when you open the curtains; the larger family rooms and suites make more sense when four people and their luggage need to coexist without practising close-quarters diplomacy.

The One-Bedroom Apartment is the obvious option when a room starts to feel too much like a storage locker with a bed in it. Several categories use large or super-king beds, while the Twin Room with View gives two separate beds for friends or dive partners. Rooms are air-conditioned and heated, and soundproofing is part of the general room specification. Wardrobes, a dressing room in some accommodation, a desk, a clothes rack and a socket near the bed cover the useful basics.

The traditional decoration keeps the rooms tied to the setting rather than turning them into anonymous business boxes. A private bathroom, shower, towels, toiletries and a hairdryer are available with the accommodation. There is also a communal refrigerator, handy for keeping water cold when you come back warm, dusty or simply too tired to be sociable.

Breakfast is a continental buffet served each morning. You can take it in the dining room, outside in the picnic area or in the comfort of your room, which gives you three sensible ways to start the day: sociable, outdoors, or quietly functional. The hotel also has a wine and champagne service for a drink rather than a full evening meal.

There is no hotel restaurant or bar to plan your entire night around, but Mourèze keeps the logistics straightforward. O Cirque, L’Art de la Flamme and La Terrasse de Val Mourèze are all within about 0.1 mile, or a short walk through the village. Combes Mario is about 2 miles away for a drink, while O dit Vin is roughly 4 miles away. In other words, dinner is close; a wider bar crawl requires wheels.

The centrepiece is the heated outdoor pool: an 18-metre length surrounded by loungers, hammocks and parasols. It is large enough for a proper swim rather than just standing in the water to cool off, and the surrounding space gives you somewhere to read, doze or let your shoulders recover. The garden, terrace and picnic area add more room for outdoor downtime.

Away from the pool, the hotel works well for an active couple or a group that does not need an entertainment programme. Walking tours and hiking are available, with cycling and bicycle hire for exploring further afield. Bike tours, canoeing, windsurfing and fishing are also available as activities, with some taking place away from the property. Badminton equipment and board games cover the less ambitious moments, when the most demanding movement of the afternoon is reaching for the next piece.

Arrival is available between 14:30 and 19:00, with departure between 08:00 and 11:00. That arrival window is worth keeping in mind if you are driving across the region or landing late; the day needs a little planning rather than improvisation. Private check-in and check-out, concierge service, wake-up service and room service are available.

Free private parking is available on site and does not require a reservation. Wi-Fi is free throughout the hotel. Béziers Cap d’Agde Airport is about 19 miles away, with a driving distance of roughly 30 miles and a journey of around 47 minutes. Montpellier-Méditerranée Airport is about 29 miles away, or around 35 miles by road, with a drive of about 50 minutes. Children of any age are welcome, and pets can stay on request. Cash is accepted for payment.