I stayed here for 2 months in February and March 2011. I got a good deal through an arrangement that the hotel has with the university where I was working - 38 euros per night for a 2-roomed apartment with tiny kitchennette area in the main room. At this price it was satisfactory. I would have been disappointed if I'd paid the full rate.

The bedroom had a double bed in but was very small indeed. The kitchenette had a microwave oven, two-ringed hob and a fridge.

The television was the greatest disappointment and one of the main reasons why I shan't stay there again when I return for my next stay. The volume was set at far too low a level. Since I wanted to improve my French it was important for me to watch a lot of French TV, but I could barely hear it. I had a second TV in the bedroom, but although this was audible it was very old and the picture quality was very poor and I could only get about 4 channels.

The staff - as several reviwers have indicated - were below par. They were civil, but have no customer service ethic. No apologies when things went wrong - like the lift breaking down or the wifi not working. The lift broke down 5 times during my 2-month stay, and since there's only one lift it was a real nuisance when it wasn't operating. And the staff never took the trouble to walk up to each floor and stick a notice on the lift doors telling people that it wasn't working, so one stood there for ages, pressing the button, and no lift would arrive, so eventually one would work out that it wasn't working. The cleaners often took over the lift, too, keeping it for ages on the ground floor while they unloaded sack after sack of dirty linen. A second lift is badly needed.

Staff were uninterested in customer service. They responded to requests when asked, but never went out of their way, and were civil, but not what one could call pleasant and helpful. Seldom did they greet guests as they came in and out.

This hotel is just about adequate when the low tarif is considered, but the low tarif meant that I got a tired and shabby room that badly needs a face lift. The lounge is sparsely furnished - just the basic furniture: a small 2-seater bed-settee, a small coffee table, a desk and hard, wooden chair, and a small dining table and two more hard, wooden chairs. An extra arm chair would've been nice and would have fitted in. Lots of details were lacking that wouldn't have cost much to install but which would've made life much easier for guests: a draining rack in the kitchen; coat hooks by the door, etc.

There's often quite a lot of street noise at night - it's quite a rowdy area, and it wasn't unusual to get yobs yelling late at night.

The biggest issue I had was that there's no staff on duty during the night. I don't know what would happen if there were an emergency, or if one accidentally locked oneself out - there was no emergency contact number given.; no one there to quieten noisy neighbours in other rooms.

On the plus side, it's located right next door to the metro, and there's a supermarket right across the road. But it's not the best of areas in Lyon and a metro ride is needed to get into the centre of town.