‘What a remarkable place,’ says a visitor to this designer hotel in the lively narrow streets of the trendy St-Jean quarter of Vieux Lyon. Four adjacent Renaissance mansions have been converted by Jocelyne and Jean-Louis Sibuet to give a ‘breathtakingly contemporary interior’. There is a ‘magnificent atrium, with dark red cloisters and stunning modern paintings’ and ‘lovely gardens are scattered behind at all levels: many can be entered directly from the rooms’. It can take time to learn to operate the high-tech fittings in bedrooms and bathrooms (one visitor called the hotel ‘a triumph of design over function’). But ‘everything was immaculate’; the staff are ‘helpful’, ‘warm and bright’. The gastronomic restaurant has a Michelin star under chef Anthony Bonnet, and there’s a less formal cafe with a terrace and adjoining delicatessen. New for autumn 2015 is La Petite Loge, in the former Masonic temple; as well as food and wine tasting demonstrations, guests can receive cooking lessons or dine at the Chef’s Table. There is a roof garden, a wine cellar (tastings are held), and a full spa, complete with a sauna, hammam and small mosaic-tiled swimming pool.