The hotel offers a generally pleasant stay, yet my experience was unfortunately tarnished by the service at breakfast. Staff is completely overwhelmed, inattentive, and, regrettably, somewhat discourteous. My order was incorrect on two counts, and when I politely addressed the issue, it was met with clear disinterest. Although breakfast is advertised until 11 AM on Saturdays, by 10 AM, most items were depleted, and no refills were forthcoming. Cherry on the cake : several items looked and tasted several days old.

Rather disappointing for a hotel of this standing.

We had an enjoyable stay at the Carlton. It is a beautiful old building, nicely renovated, and very well located for a visit to Lyon - close to lots of restaurants and shops and an easy, short walk across the bridge to the old town. If you want an excellent coffee, it’s just a 5 minute walk to Slake. The hotel is quite stylish and well appointed. We had a classic room which would be perfect for one person, but is not a good layout for two people - nowhere to put your suitcases and there is a table and chair blocking one person’s path to the bathroom. We redesigned the room to make it slightly more workable, and this did not deter from a lovely stay. The shower was a great size but sadly not clean. The staff were friendly and trying to be helpful, although we were given 4 recommendations for bouchons for dinner one night and we set off to find the first 3 were closed! Unlike the photo, there are two bar tables and stools outside the lobby door. This is a poor decision to my mind, as I do not want to pass through smokers to go in and out of the hotel.

Hôtel: Hotel Carlton M Gallery

Rank: 4

StarMatch: Above

Location: Perfect. Centre Presqu'Ile. Surrounded by shops and restaurants and quick 10 min walk to old medieval Lyon.

1Liner: Perfectly positioned boutique hotel in a great neighbourhood.

Great Bits: room size, decor, street view

Good Bits: staff, location.

Bad Bits: None