After a luxury break at New Year last year in Lille, we decided to repeat in another city. Cour des Loges seemed an obvious choice with its location and reviews.

My problem was that it knows it's the best hotel of its type in Lyon - it's in all the guide books and gets plenty of high-end visitors. We stayed 4 nights in room 43 (see the previous description), which is fine, albeit a little dusty round the edges (too many nooks and crannies to clean efficiently). In addition to the lovely view of the garden and Fourviere, the room was incredibly peaceful, which I really valued. Not sure it was worth 290 euros a night though.

There are three keys things about the hotel:
- the concierge service, which is reputedly excellent
- the location in the heart of old Lyon (le vieux Lyon)
- the architecture and interior design of the hotel, which is getting a little bit tired around the edges.

So it's a beautiful hotel. You'll get the best out of it if you use the concierge service and money is no object. We just didn't think that the basic quality we had provided the value we've found elsewhere in Europe.

A World Heritage site, a 14th-16th century convent, the whole concept and website photos appealed to us. At check in the hotel seems wonderful. It actually looks very nice. The staff is helpful and the conciergerie - as we would find out later - are proud of their work and have superb suggestions. That is it! Wait till you enter your room. We had requested a room with a view and they gave us one: of the room across. Of course we asked for another room. I have only been able to upload two pictures of it, but in sum: there were tiles coming off everywhere in the bathroom; the curtains and the bed cover were filthy; the sink was rusty as well as the mirror; and having a shower in their large but low bath having to hold the hose yourself all the time (nowhere to hang it) was a classic! Ah, the indoors pool was not heated.

We stayed at the Cour des Loges for 5 nights and loved every second of it. It was exactly what I expected when we arrived. Our room was so cozy and clean and it smelled soooooo good. Not sure what they use, but the room always smelled like a good candle. The bedding was all white with green velvet pillows and blanket. The room was plastered with a dark color, but it had huge windows overlooking the gardens and dim lights all over the room. We read by the bedside lights just fine....The bathroom was very exposed and only had a big bathtub, but we loved it. Our room didn't feel run down at all (#43). The double bed was kinda hard, but the sheets were so soft...still very comfy. The location is the BEST!!!! We loved that it was right near all the shops and restaurants and always looked forward to getting back to our room. And Gerard, the consierge was truly amazing. So nice and welcoming and planned every one of my days, because my husband was working. He also made excellent reservations for us every night. We ate the breakfast once, but it is expensive and not really worth it. The hotel is cozy and romantic and very special! We would stay at The Cour des Loges again in a second!

Having read that this hotel is made up of 4 centuries-old buildings and is considered one of the best in Lyon, I booked a room so that my husband and I could enjoy a luxurious and comfortable stay during our first visit to Lyon.

Unfortunately, in this case style trumps function. Our room was up some stairs and then down some more stairs and had the musty smell of the sauna next door to us. The style was super contemporary and the bedroom was very small. The lighting was almost impossible to read by, although there was plenty in the bathroom. The bathroom could be seen 100% of the time because it was joined to the bedroom by a huge, uncovered picture window. A lot of the materials needed replacement, like dirty throw rugs, permanently stained fixtures, and damaged and stained draperies. I had to reach under the high-style sink in order to close the drain (and most of the time it didn't close anyway).

The one bright spot in an otherwise depressing stay was the concierge, Gerard, who is one of the best in the business. He has spent his life in Lyon and knows what people who only have a couple days should focus on. So we had a great time outside the hotel. This was the most expensive hotel we stayed in in France (of 5, including Paris) and the only one in which we were disappointed.