Apartments in Lyon?

I found an okay studio apartment in Lyon using Airbnb. The place was nice but it was on a steep hill with no nearby parking. Knowing what I know now I'd get something in a flatter area, between the rivers or in old Lyon within maybe four or five blocks of the river, after that it's a steep hike up to the top. There is a funicular station, use that as a guide to where the hill starts and think between there and the river as a great first choice and between the rivers as a good second choice.

I found the price for an apartment in Lyon very reasonable.

The issue with Airbnb is primarily in Paris, it's a city thing more than all over France.

I have used Homeaway.com in Lyon 3 times in the last 3 years. Every apartment was wonderful. I would stay away from Old Lyon because of parking. I would recommend the Croix Rousse ( 4th arr.)or the area around Bellecour. Personally, I love the Croix Rousse. There are lots of local restaurants and few tourists, but great metro access.There are plenty of underground parking lots in both areas. You may need AC, or may sure you have big windows that don't face a busy street, because it could be very warm in May.

An apartment for just two days is a lot of coordinating and orienting for a short stay. We stayed in a fantastic B & B in Lyon, I would highly recommend it. It's in what used to be a silk factory, and it is entirely unique with a lovely couple who run the place-just 3 or 4 rooms. Can't recommend highly enough, and it will simplify things greatly over an apartment. It's in Villeurbanne, which is not the heart of the city, but that is the only slight downside. There is good public transport and good taxi's as well. It's a great city.

Here's a TA link, you can read a lot more reviews in French by checking the box and translating.

https://www.tripadvisor.com/Hotel_Review-g207360-d2469923-Reviews-Aux_Deux_Ateliers_Chambre_d_Hotes-Villeurbanne_Lyon_Rhone_Auvergne_Rhone_Alpes.html

Photos here:

http://www.rhonetourisme.com/en-famille/hebergements-pour-famille/aux-deux-ateliers-211282/

"Because we do not see each other often and would like to stay together, we would like to rent an apartment." What about connecting rooms -- a suite connected to a room so you have a sitting area to share would work. If that is something you want to consider, look at Hotel Royal.

I agree that you will probably have a last-minute cancellation, if the owner does not have a "hole" in his calendar, and would have someone who would like to stay longer than 2 days.
It's an awful lot of trouble to go through.

It depends on which area you want to be in, in Lyon, though.
http://www.hotelvaubecour-lyon.com.

I have never known Homeaway to do a last minute cancellation but I know it is somewhat common on AirBnB. If you can find a Homeaway apartment for 2 nights, which I think you can, I don't think you have to worry about cancellations. I just don't prefer hotels or B&Bs, so I understand your need for an apartment. Happy hunting.

I just checked Homeaway and they have several 2 bedroom apartments that will accept a 2 night stay. All the ones I looked at were under $200 a night. Check it out!

"I agree that you will probably have a last-minute cancellation..."

Not sure who or which post chexbres is referring to here. The inference, of course, is that an owner may drop you if they're able to book someone else for a longer period of time than your two days. It assumes a lack of integrity and fair dealing on the part of that owner, and equates owners who rent out vacation apartments with those qualities, unfortunately. It's critical to only rent those places with lots of good, credible reviews, to communicate before committing, and to employ whatever protections are available from the site or agency that you book through.

Thank you all for the many good ideas and discussion. We are following up on all of your suggestions, although it is becoming clearer that we prefer something close enough to major sites that we can walk to most or all of them. So I think this would put us in the old city or Presqu'ile? Also, we will not have a car when we are in Lyon, although we will rent one on our way to the Rhone Valley, so parking is not a consideration.

Re the issue of cancellations, it is admittedly a problem unique to apartment rentals, since it wouldn't normally exist with B&Bs or hotels. So the risk is always there. In fact, we did have a cancellation a week ahead of our stay in Portugal, and it was a hassle although we fortunately found something even better. However, at least for airbnb, if an owner repeatedly cancels, you'll know because each cancellation is posted along with the lead time. When I am apartment hunting, I move on f I see more than one cancellation by a given owner.

So basically, we are looking into all options - apts, hotel suites, and B&Bs, as long as they are relatively central and can somehow accommodate all 4 of us. We do have a budget, although from what I've seen, it is not unreasonable for Lyon.

Thanks for helping!

Barbara

La Reine Astrid is located in the Parc de Tete d'Or, and is in the 6th arrondissement.
I don't know if they have connecting rooms or not, but it is an apart'hotel, so you can cook something.

If you want to stay in Presqu'ile, go to this website and look for SLEEP:
You'll find apartments, apart'hotels and so forth.
http://www.en.lyon-france.com/Sleep

I would be really careful staying in the Old Town. It can be very noisy.

Thanks for the suggestions. It sounds like Presqu'ile is the best place to look for. In the RS France book, most of what he suggests are in this area rather than in the old city. Maybe noise is one reason!

Upon further trying to define our needs, I don't know if we really need connecting rooms. And we hope to eat out in Lyon, since the food is part of the draw. What we'd really like are two bedrooms plus a cozy place where we can hang out together in the evenings and visit. If necessary, we can do this in a bar or café, I suppose. The other couple is our daughter and son-in-law, who we traveled to Portugal with. They live in Barcelona, we live in the U.S., so we travel together to explore Europe and to spend quality time. We have good (I hope) places in Paris (Hotel Beaubourg) and one in Gigondas (Les Florets); both are hotels and neither have suites. We could not do apartments in either location, so we had to go with hotels. But in Lyons, it seems like there is a wider range of options, so we're exploring everything. Fortunately, we are months ahead (we're going at the end of May 2018), so there are still a lot of possibilities...

Chexbres, that's a great website, could be very helpful.

There are always good choices on "tourisme" websites - no matter which city you choose.
Possibly with the exception of Paris.