After enjoying arguably the best meal of our South of France trip at Maison Pic, it was time to hit the dusty road again. Our next destination Lyon is the third largest city in France and it's only an hour and a half's drive from where we were. I was once confident that we would arrive in Lyon just before 7pm but a huge traffic jam outside of Lyon shattered any hopes of us catching a few attractions before sunset.
By the time we arrived at Hotel Sofitel Lyon Bellecour, it was almost 8pm. Exactly an hour late. To be brutally honest, I never like staying at a Sofitel when we are in Europe because their properties are generally very old and dated. But why did I pick this hotel then? Well, I didn't find any boutique hotels I like in the area and from my deep research work, I knew that as long as we can secure a room on the renovated floor(s), we should be fine. So, a few months ago, I already emailed the hotel asking for a renovated room. Everything was all set. At least that's what I thought.
But when we turned ourselves in at the check-in counter, we were told that all the rooms on the renovated floor(s) were long gone. And I did write in to reserve one of those rooms right? Oops...
The team here did admit that something went wrong from their side but unfortunately, there was nothing they could do at 8pm as keys to all the renovated rooms were already handed out. I guess the only thing we could do was to accept their apology.
When the dust finally settled, we got the key to our unrenovated room. As we first suspected, the room was pretty small (standard European size). After fitting the king sized bed in, we were almost left with no room for our luggage.
The bathroom, as one would expect from a hotel built in 1969, was dated and badly needed a facelift.
But look on the bright side, the location was perfect to explore Lyon with Place Antonin Poncet just a stone's throw away.
At the end, we were able to enjoy the last rays of daylight before sunset at Place Bellecour and the nearby River Saône.
Our stay at Hotel Sofitel Lyon Bellecour got a little better thanks to the complimentary breakfast in the morning.
The breakfast restaurant on the top floor was obviously renovated; unlike our room! Very bright and airy.
We could enjoy a very lovely city view from the window while having our breakfast.
They have excellent selection of food including bacon, egg, sausage and ham. I had to get myself some watermelon since I haven't had any fruits to eat for days.
More fruits and cold cuts...
The front desk team did send us a bottle of wine and an apology note expressing their regret about our bad experience but at this point, I'm not quite sure if it's enough to take the sting away.
Rating: ❤❤❤
Price: €€€
Address: 20 Quai du Dr Gailleton, 69002 Lyon, France
Tel: +33 (0)4 7241-2020
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