This place was super quirky but had a lot of good things going for it. The location is right in the…read morecenter of the old city with a ton of classic Lyonnais restaurants in every direction, as well as plenty of patisseries, gift shops, and the marionettes museums. The building itself is VERY Lyon, with the classic stacked staircases look you'll see throughout the old city and its traboules. But the rooms are weird. We stayed in one of the Ateliers suites. Ours was film themed. It was strange that the bathroom was along the staircase to the master bedroom, like you walked past the sink and drying off area. But then the toilet was downstairs without a sink. And there seems to be many technical issues. Ours was that the internet barely worked. There was one area my iPhone would work, but my wife's Android wouldn't connect from anywhere. Other reviews also seem to indicate that air conditioning is not reliable (but we came in November). Making up for it all though is the service. The concierge was great. The bar had excellent cocktails. The restaurant is renowned. I am happy we stayed here but in the future I'd probably stay someplace more updated, probably in the 1st arrondissement, where it would be easier to explore the entire city.

We were so disappointed in the shabby, run-down condition of the guest rooms and public areas of…read morethis iconic hotel. And it was very expensive! We were a group of 3 couples, so we had 3 rooms, and all were dark/poorly lighted, with old beds, and old bedding. We finally were told that the hotel was closing next week for about a six-month renovation! But we were not given a reduction in the top-tier room rates we paid. The rooms were quiet because the old walls are so thick, but it would be easy to fall on one of the old, windy stone staircases linking the rooms. I will be curious about how much money will be spent to bring this old abbey into the 21st century!

From the owner: Un hôtel de charme et de bien-être Situé à deux pas de la station Gorge de Loup, à un arrêt du…read moreVieux Lyon et à deux stations de Bellecour, l'Hôtel Saphir reste une adresse judicieuse pour découvrir Lyon. L'ambiance est chaleureuse : on découvre de grands espace pour la réception, un salon, un bar et bien sûr les 111 chambres de l'hôtel. Toutes fonctionnelles et confortables, elles disposent de l'air conditionné, d'un mini-bar, d'un coffre-fort et même d'un presse-pantalon. Sachez aussi que l'hôtel compte un restaurant.

This hotel is exceptional! The staff is incredible. From the moment we arrived until we pulled…read moreaway, they consistently delivered excellent service. Whether it was assisting with dinner reservations, directions, point of interests to visiting, they were on it with pleasure. The breakfast room is delightful as were the two gentlemen there working in the morning. The restaurant is beautiful and it is clear the people working there really want guests to have a great experience. We certainly did and can't wait to return! Thank you! Joan and Ted Grossman

We loved this beautiful, historic hotel. From our spacious, immaculate room with a private terrace…read moreoverlooking a charming, walled garden, to the great location, to the excellent food and unparalleled service, our entire stay was perfect. The staff was so genuinely warm and welcoming to us. They were helpful, kind, accommodating, and gracious at every turn. It was hands down the best treatment we've received at home or abroad and put the other Forbes Five Star, AAA Five Diamond resorts we've stayed at to shame. We highly recommend it and will stay here again on our next visit to Lyon.

The hotel is centrally located and provides easy access to the main attractions and landmarks of…read moreLyon. The service provided by all the employees was excellent . On the other hand I can't say the same for the quality of the bedding or cleanliness of the rooms. I don't understand why it's a 5 star hotel. To my view it's more like a 3 star. I think the Association that assigned it the 5 stars has to revisit the hotel. There were countless amount of scuff marks on the walls, the carpets were stained, there was dust on furniture and baseboards of hallways and rooms. Some of the furniture looked old. The bed was very uncomfortable and it felt like they just layer down a pair of think blankets under the sheets to make it feel more cushiony. The bathroom sink was broken, The tub was stained, the furniture was broken, etc. I would not stay at this hotel again. The other two couples I was traveling with had the similar complaints one of them even saying the room smelled musty.

There are beautiful elements to the hotel. I'm giving it only 3 stars because of issues with our…read moreroom. The toilet seat was loose, the vent was dirty, the faucet knobs were rotting away, the drapery was stained and one was not attached to the track, and so on. I didn't realize the issue with the vent until our last night. I swabbed it and it was black. I just hope it wasn't mold. Every time we went into our room it smelled musty. Location was perfect. Not too far from the train station. Make sure to try their breakfast. Well worth 27€ per person. The decor in the common areas was spectacular. I especially liked the breakfast room.

I had a great stay here. Staff was very helpful and informative. We had arrived right before New…read moreYear's Eve with no dinner reservations which is not a good idea during the holidays but the hotel staff made good restaurant recommendations. After a few calls, they were able to get us into a highly sought after restaurant at the last minute and also got us a reservation for the next night which happened to be New Year's Eve. It was a great help having such good service in a country where I do not speak the language and am not familiar with the local offerings. The front desk also sold the Lyon City Pass which was worth every penny. The room was modern and spacious. We got a free bottle of water every day. My only complaint was how warm our room was despite it being near freezing outside and us having turned off the heat the day we arrived. We were sweating in our sleep. As for the surroundings, I found the neighborhood safe enough to walk to and from dinner every night. It's well situated to public transportation and so close to Gare de Lyon Part Deux that I easily walked over with my large suitcase and carry-on bag after getting off the train from Paris. This hotel was really a wonderful surprise.

Great location Well priced for France (US $140/night)…read moreFree WiFI Staff speaks English Beds - eh, not so comfy Showers - eh, not great pressure I overnighted in Lyon on my way back from Grenoble. After looking at various airport hotels and seeing that there was nothing around the airport for tourist, I elected to stay at this Mercure located right next to the Gare Part Dieu. Rather than taking the train from Grenoble to the airport, I took this alternate train from Grenoble to Gare Part Dieu. It was a great decision because the hotel is less than 100 steps from the station entrance. Check in was fast. My room was modern and clean. I liked the complimentary bottle of water and coffee making fixings. Fabulous location! I dropped my stuff and got a map from the nice receptionist. It was about 30 minutes to walk from Mercure Lyon Part Dieu to Old Town. You basically walk back past the Gare to Cours Lafayette, turn left and you'll walk right into Rue de la République (read the Wiki entry) and La Basilique Notre Dame de Fourvière. Instead of eating at the hotel, take a nice walk at eat at Le Gabion. It's across from the big mall with Galeries Lafayette. The airport train is right in front of the hotel. It starts at 4:30am. We opted to take a cab to the airport which cost 50 euros. Ask the person at the front desk to make a taxi reservation for you. The bed was hard as a rock with two wimpy little pillow and very weak water pressure hence the one star deduction. Overall a great place to stay.

Great small, family-owned hotel in the heart of Lyon. It's a bit of a unique setup, they actually…read morehave most of the second floor of an apartment building so you need to get buzzed in. etc. Rooms are nice but most are small (we upgraded to the corner suite which was very nice), breakfast is solid whether going with the 5 or 9 Euro option, and the owners are extremely friendly, helpful, and quite fluent in English. There's no air conditioning (which is typical just about everywhere in France) and you'll encounter the smallest elevator I've ever seen, plus note there's not really hotel parking (the best options are street or an underground garage across the river - St George Parking I believe). Overall the price is right, the location is great, and this is exactly the type of hotel you want to stay at in Europe as they don't really exist anymore in the U.S. It's not the Ritz, but I'm guessing that's not what most people (or their wallets) really want. Just stay here, you'll be very happy as long as you're not too much of a high maintenance traveler.

Just returned from a stay at this hotel, great location, clean, rooms were quiet, we slept very…read morewell. I am very picky about where we stay and we typically stay at high end hotels and when we went to book our hotel in Lyon the rates were $400 - $500 per night, which we just did not feel like paying so we found Hotel Vaubecour on Trip Advisor and decided to give it a try, it was just as the reviewers described. I could not believe how helpful the owners were, they checked in at breakfast to see if we needed anything, made our dinner reservations, made suggestions as to what to do, gave us directions, etc.- no request was too much. Their rooms are a bit small, but typical of European standards, we had lots of luggage and the room size ended up being fine. As other reviewers mentioned this is a 2 star hotel, so do not go in expecting all the amenities you are going to get when paying top dollar, but we could not believe what a great value this was, no wonder it is always booked. As for being difficult to find, I don't agree, we did google maps before arriving so we had an idea where it was located, saw a picture of the outside of the buidling on line, so no problem, we pointed out the building to the taxi driver. We would return to this place in a minute.

My wife and I wanted a hotel in old Lyon. We wanted something quiet and within an easy walk of…read moretransport , shops and restaurants. The Globe and Cecil met all of this. The hotel is between the Place`de Jacobins and the Bellacort. It is a short walk to many (some Michelin starred!) restaurants. We found several wonderful boulangeries for breakfasts and an exceptional cocktail/tapas bar (le PoliGone) even closer. Rooms were clean, comfy and the bath well appointed. The lobby was roomy and desk staff friendly, helpful and knowledgeable. A perfect place to base yourself in Lyon.

Can not beat the location. With a quiet room, comfortable bedding, plus a large bathroom, it's a…read moregreat choice.

I stayed there during the recent French strike. Despite the very difficult travel situation they…read morewent out of their way to help me arrange alternative routes. The room and bathroom were large and quite modern and clean I would come back to stay again

Had to cancel less than an hour after booking because of a family emergency and they refused to…read morerefund me