Our extended family of five took two rooms (standard double and junior suite) for a short overnight stay in Lyon. The Mercure Plaza Republique is in a good location to walk to most major sites of interest. Clean and safe public parking was nearby (within about a block), but as most other reviewers have noted, it gets pretty expensive - unfortunately I think this is unavoidable for anyone coming by car.

The hotel itself is in a nice older building that fits in well with its surroundings. The inside is bit lackluster, although very clean and certainly adequate. The front desk staff were efficient enough, but the breakfast staff were pretty slow and disinterested. We chose the "express" breakfast option of breads, coffee and orange juice for 7euro over the full buffet which seemed overpriced. On a Sunday morning, however, please note there are few (no?) breakfast options outside the hotel, unless you want to visit another hotel and have their buffet.

We stayed in the junior suite, which was very large, with a king size bed and a pull-out sofa bed that was fine for a child. There was no outside noise at all. The room was clean, although not charming or fancy in any way. There was only a smaller window and just a plain wall where one would imagine a bigger window would or should be. There are separate toilet and shower/bath rooms, closets with a safe, mini bar fridge, hot water kettle, extra pillows and other basic ammenities. Over the weekend, when hotel prices seem to be lower in Lyon, we found the room rate to be appropriate and therefore the stay was a good value.

Lyon itself is a great place to visit - it is sometimes overlooked because other French cities have more obvious attractions, but Lyon has a great vibrant feel, excellent restaurants, classic French architecture, nice river and hilltop vistas, and some excellent archeological and medieval sites. All that is easily enjoyed from this hotel. This was our second visit to Lyon and we'd go back again.