Hotel Mercure Villefranche-sur-Saone

We stayed here with our little one, and he liked it, so we did too. They took really good care of us, and the service was great. If you're looking for a good hotel north of Lyon, this is the one I'd pick.

The parking is underneath the hotel, but its security gate wasn't working and the area was uncontrolled, so we had to carry all our things up into the hotel. We'd chosen a Mercure hoping for something a little better than an Ibis, yet this felt worse than an Ibis budget, while costing a lot more. Quite a disappointment. We'd been told by phone before arrival that the restaurant was closed. That's fair enough, it can happen. But we were put in a handicapped room, and the bathroom wouldn't have been suitable even as a highway toilet in the 80s. The inside of the toilet bowl was disgusting, and there was a smell to match. Breakfast was another problem. Two staff members were there, but the plates weren't refilled, the bread kept running out, and no more eggs appeared. Tables weren't cleared after people left. When we asked for one to be cleared, we were sent to another room in the restaurant, then another staff member told us ten minutes later that we couldn't sit there.

The hotel needs a full renovation. The WC was dirty, and although I reported it to reception, nobody cleaned it during our two-night stay. This doesn't feel like a four-star hotel.

The service was disappointing, and I wouldn't book here again. There may be more comfortable, more accommodating places around.