Apartment or airbnb in Lyon

I don’t have a recommendation, but I do have an observation: For better or worse, AirBNB is the same everywhere. The platform doesn’t work differently from one city to another. And it is a CR** SHOOT, wherever you are.

We’ve used AirBNB quite a bit over the last couple of years, and I calculate we have slightly over a 50% total success rate. We are smart consumers. We research the area we’re headed for. We use well-established, well-reviewed hosts. We have still encountered problems!

One flat (nice block of flats, elegant neighborhood) had a RAT in it - which raced out from under our bed in the dead of night. We had to pack and relocate in under an hour. It was heinous.

In another place, seemingly nice and newly refurbished, the wiring and plumbing (unseen behind a panel in the kitchen) was shoddily installed and when I accidentally pressed against the panel while doing the dishes, a spark flew, the panel popped open, and a water main began uncontrollably jetting water. I wrapped a towel around the hole that had been blown in the pipe and tried to reach the host. In the meantime, the downstairs neighbour and his mother came knocking, complaining that their kitchen was flooding. And once I got in touch with the host, I then lost almost the entire day waiting for his contractor.

My point is, if anyone here has a recommendation for a nice serviced apartment rental agency, I’d go with that. :-)

I know a lot of people swear by AirBNB, and until I thought about it I would have said that I did too… but on reflection, not so much.

Thank you Volva for your reply.
I don't have a lot of experience with airbnb so, I'll probably stick with the Mercure unless there is a recommendation as you suggest, for an apartment service similar to those recommended for Paris.

My husband and I stayed at this AirBnb in September 2023:
https://www.airbnb.com/rooms/6826032?source_impression_id=p3_1747768896_P3Rn_0c15ZZVYbkt
The beds are only double, so you would need to factor that in if you're used to larger beds. While we didn't cook, the cappuccino machine was a true cappuccino machine! In the morning, I took the ornate, gorgeous elevator down, turned left out of the building and walked 2-4 doors down to the patisserie and bought pastries to go with our cappuccinos made in-house. There is a washing machine in the kitchen and a "storage" room with a kick-a** ironing system that I used for my linen clothes. The living room is quite spacious. The air conditioning was quite nice, but you need to know how to work the fuses in the back of the closet since the ac occasionally went out.
Since you have already been to Lyon, you probably already know of some wonderful restaurants, tours and sights.

We stayed here last May: https://www.airbnb.com/rooms/32323548?guests=1&adults=1&s=67&unique_share_id=a938283c-31b0-499b-9629-c5593c6618cf

Actually, minor correction. We were booked there but the owner messaged us the day before to say there was a problem with the water heater and moved us to another unit in the same building, which was lovely. My husband was recovering from a back injury, and the replacement apartment was on one floor higher than the original, but he managed fine. The apartment was well equipped, had a washing machine, and the host was very nice. We could see them working on the water heater while we were there, so it was not a bait-and-switch. :D

One thing to pay close attention to as you are looking at apartments in Lyon is what floor it's on and if there is an elevator. More so than any other city, it's difficult to find buildings with elevators, esp in the old town. Most of the apartments tend to be up up up! Read the reviews!

Thank you Celeste and Lindy.
Those look like great apartments!

I guess I should knock wood because I have stayed at various air BnBs over about 10 years with few problems. I have also stayed in hotels and also had few problems.

We stayed here in 2022 in summer. No AC at that time, but it looks like it has AC now. It was right on a very touristy street in Vieux Lyon. Very old historic bldg, no elevator, smooth stone stairs, a couple flights up. Everything worked out fine for us for 4 nights.

I actually found this apt. here on Rick Steve’s site, recommended by someone who stayed there.

https://www.airbnb.com/rooms/12985701?source_impression_id=p3_1747776874_P3gpz7DQlZYBQ6e4

I agree. I liked that Mercure and the location was perfect!