The staff may be nice, but watch out for the management. When you give your credit card details to confirm your reservation, they immediately help themselves to a 'deposit.' Deposits are rarely required by European hotels, but get this - the Globe et Cecil takes not 10%, not 20%, but ONE HUNDRED PERCENT of the room price.
Some deposit! If guests book a month ahead, these greedy people are earning interest on a significant pile of cash. Pity they haven’t spent some on updating the lift.

A very nice hotel in a very convenient location. Staff extremely courteous and helpful. Our rooms faced the street but the noise was not a problem at night (even though it can get pretty noisy during the day). Of course it is a relatively expensive hotel (we contacted the hotel directly and paid 130 euros for a single and 160 euros for a twin) but considering everything, it was not too expensive. What I really liked is that continental breakfast (hot drink, juice, yogurt and very tasty pastries) is included in the price and can be served in the room free of charge--very nice. The only thing I did not like was that they require a deposit (not just a credit card number, like most hotels) of one night's stay and they actually cashed my cheque before my arrival.

I would recommend this hotel to anyone who can is willing to pay more than 100 euros for a nice room in a central location in Lyon.

It all started so well. We decided to spend NY Eve in Lyon, phoned the hotel directly and booked a room.

Hotel very easy to find, and public parking in abundance nearby.

Checked in, went to the room (in a very rickety lift it has to be said) and the first thing that struck me was the HEAT. The corridors were bad enough but when we got to the room - hells teeth...

Room was a little on the small side, although the bed was a good size - two single mattresses zipped together.

Main problem with the hotel was the noise. Our room backed onto a courtyard, across which are private apartments. Of course, on NY Eve you should expect some noise. Unfortunately the noise from the parties in the private apartment outside our window went on till 5.30am... Not the hotels fault obviously, but be mindful of this when booking your room.

One final (and main) gripe is the conduct of the staff serving breakfast. Imagine the scene - the first morning of 2007, lying in bed waiting for breakfast to arrive and then suddenly - BANG BANG BANG - knocking at the door.

You shout that you are coming, leap out of bed, and look for some clothes. Before you are halfway out of bed - BANG BANG BANG on the door. You repeat that you are on your way, but as you put one leg in a pair of jeans - BANG BANG BANG...

You implore to the unseen fist behind your door that you are coming... second leg enters the jeans... BANG BANG BANG again. Heart rate rises, stress levels increase... You head for the door... and as you hand reaches for the handle... BANG BANG BANG...

Honestly - breakfast in bed should be a rare pleasure, and a wonderfully calm way to start the day.

Not at the G et C. It seemed as though the breakfast was being delivered by the Gestapo. Shock and awe tactics seem to be the order of the day.

With brisk impatience, two members of staff launched themselves into the room, set the tray of food down and quickly headed off to find another door to bash in.

And it didn't end there. The whole episode was repeated later when the woman realised that the empty tray had not been left outside the room (this was in between hoovering up and down the corridor twenty times).

Mind you, the breakfast was nice... I do have to admit that...

So all in all. Nice location, rooms comfy but be careful which one you get, and if you are having breakfast in bed then be ready by the door. Perhaps best to keep the door open, and you can then sling your empty plates and cups out into the corridor as you are going along to avoid any splintered wood landing in your coffee.

My boyfriend and I stayed at the Globe et Cecil for 3 nights in February 2006. I chose this hotel as it was recommended in an article about mini breaks in France in Eve magazine (UK womens magazine). The cost was 145 Euros per night inclusive of breakfast. The location was excellent - less than a minute's walk to the Place Bellecour and the metro. However, when we checked in, we were somewhat taken aback by the shabbiness (for want of a better word) of the room. It was probably very grand in its heyday but now needs modernisation. However, the rooms were clean and spacious and the staff were charming. We did have 2 problems though: on the 1st night we got back to the hotel after a nice meal to discover the lock on our bedroom had broken & a locksmith had to be called - very farcical! Secondly, the room next to us was being renovated during our stay and there was extremely loud drilling and banging from about 9.00 am onwards. We thought they could have at least waited until after 10.00am (when breakfast ended and guests would reasonably have gone out for the day). It was so noisy the drilling could be heard in Reception - 3 floors below! In summary, a great up-market location and i think that is reflected in the cost of staying at this hotel. It has a certain charm but don't expect a modern hotel.