Saint-Julien-du-Serre Vacations from $1,130

Clean room and well maintained hotel with air conditioning in the room. Well situated for restaurants and local boulangeries.

The reason I pick members of The Leading Hotels of the World is not only because the properties and locations are exceptional and always in the very center of a city or the best spot on a beach. Villa Maia is not. It’s situated on a long and steep hill and you need a taxi to go everywhere and no other restaurants, cafes or stores nearby. While the room was fairly large the bathroom was small. Also the place felt unfinished: they have an indoor pool with a cool hot tub and nice lounge chairs right in front but the windows don’t open and you have to go through the bar area to go to the pool. It would have been much better if they would have sliding doors to create a seamless indoor-outdoor experience or built an outdoor pool area instead of the grass/weed area. It feels like they run out of money.

The Pullman Lyon was a wonderful experience. Very clean, modern, quiet and staff who care about their guests.

We really enjoyed our stay at Maison No to celebrate my partner’s birthday. Perfect location for enjoying Lyon, the staff were very welcoming and our room was extremely comfortable, we slept well and enjoyed the deep bath. We were also able to experience the rooftop bar and breakfast the following morning during our stay. We enjoyed some tapas and cocktails while watching the sunset and only have minor feedback for the breakfast - to ensure the eggs/bacon stay hot in the bain-marie and that the coffee machine is functioning properly. Overall it was a pleasant stay and we would return.

Regarding the location, it is by a train station but note that it is far away from the main train station “Lyon Part Dieu”. Also note that the train station it is by is under construction, so be prepared to hear banging and machinery at work around 7:00 each morning if your room faces the street. Also there is a large homeless encampment right beside the hotel and the train station. Despite this I felt safe and there were no concerns of belligerent people. Reception was friendly and even though the air conditioning was broken the first night of my stay, they provided a standalone fan for my room and gave me a partial refund on that night’s rate after I requested such. The room itself was small but adequate. There were several black marks on the walls which were unsightly (looked almost like squished bugs). The door on the shower was misaligned so water would spill out onto the bathroom floor each time I used it. The wifi speed was fast and useful for streaming videos. Overall there are several aspects that could be improved but this was a serviceable room for my trip.