We stayed three nights in the two star Clos des Aromes, arriving late at night by train from Marseille. The station is remote and around 2 miles from the town centre so we called the hotel and they picked us up. On arrival, the staff were incredibly friendly, welcoming and genuinely pleased to see us.

The hotel is situated in Cassis town centre just 2 minutes walk to the port along one of the many narrow cobbled streets . It is set in a traditional three storey terraced building, with a restaurant on the ground floor. The 14 bedrooms are arranged on the first and second floors and overlook the street and St Michael's church on one side or a pleasant terrace garden on the other.

Our twin room was freshly decorated in the provincial style with new beds and bedding. The en suite bathroom with shower was brand new. This is a two star hotel so there was no television or air conditioning in the room but there was a huge ceiling fan, quite adequate to keep the room cool in the summer.

Access to the rooms is via a large spiral staircase. This is an old converted building so there is no lift and some of the rooms are arranged with the bathroom first, leading into the bedroom.

The room was peaceful, the only noise being the chimes from the adjacent church clock or the occasional wood pigeon. Breakfast, served in the restaurant and also in the pleasant terraced garden consisted of pastries, breads, tea, coffee and juices - quite sufficient to start the day.

The town is incredibly busy during the day with day-trippers visiting the many good quality restaurants or taking boat trips to the Calanques - amazing coastal cliffs - while at night it resumes it's status as a peacful haven. The local casino is the principal source of evening entertainment.

Cassis is a secret the French want to keep which is why it is so difficult to book any hotel in the town on-line; but it is well worth the effort.