Mercure Lyon Centre Château Perrache

The bed was very comfortable and the room clean, but the petrol blue and white design felt out of place for a château. The reception had historic charm, while the room seemed like it could belong to any modern hotel and felt impersonal. The hotel is in a great location, but the railway station, parking, public transport hub, and shopping centre are all tangled together, making it hard to find on foot. Before the stay, I asked about parking. The hotel quickly and kindly reserved a space at Q-Park Perrache for €22 at a preferential rate, and added my foreign license plate. But in the confusing complex we parked in a different garage also called “Perrache,” not Q-Park Perrache. We were there from 22:00 Saturday to 12:00 Sunday and paid €17.80, after already prepaying the €22. Since the hotel offer covered 24 hours, it cost more than just paying the usual hourly rate. I got several emails before arrival with parking and luggage drop-off details, but none mentioned that driving in Lyon requires a Crit’Air environmental sticker. A friend warned me about it about an hour before we arrived. The sticker has to be ordered online and mailed to your home, a process taking 10-14 days. Reception gave me advice in excellent English, but the receptionist didn't know about the requirement and sent me to the tourist office. There I learned the sticker is valid once ordered and paid for online, even before it arrives. The government site froze at payment, and trying to deal with it on an iPhone at a gas station was stressful. The fine for driving without it can be up to €135, so it wasn't something we could ignore. I wish the hotel had mentioned it when I booked. It would've been a simple courtesy. Guests are responsible for knowing the rules, sure, but when I host people I tell them important things they need to know before arriving. With such detailed messages about other matters, I was surprised this wasn't included.

The staff were genuinely kind and helpful, which was the one good thing. For €200+ a night, though, we got cheap towels, tiny rooms, and an ibis budget-style plastic bathroom with only dispenser shampoo and no other toiletries. Getting there by public transport or taxi was a hassle too. This is a joke of a hotel.

Breakfast was plentiful and the food very good, and the breakfast staff were friendly and helpful. At check-in, the staff were fine but didn't make much effort to chat or be welcoming. The rooms were big enough for three adults, with a king bed and twin pullout. One room had a working window and a tiny balcony, the other in our group didn't. AC was adequate, as was the bathroom, though it could've been cleaner. The carpet was stained and gross. There was a mini fridge in a small cabinet, and we had two locking doors between our entryway and the hallway, which felt good since we'd been told not to park nearby because the area wasn't safe. Driving to the hotel was confusing because of the road layout, but it's just steps from a metro stop, bus stops, and the SNCF station, so the location gets 4/5 from me.

We had a delicious dinner at the restaurant. Breakfast offered plenty of options, though the hot food was cold. The room was a reasonable size, and the doors onto a balcony opened to bring in lots of fresh air, though it wasn't really a balcony you could sit on. The bed was terribly firm, and my husband and I both woke with aching bodies. The pillows were so flattened, probably from years of use, they felt like deflated couch cushion inserts. The TV didn't have any English channels either.