Stayed here for four nights mid May.

We came in by train at Gare St. Lazare. Continuing to Gare de Lyon from where it is only few steps to the hotel was surprisingly easy by metro! Metro no. 14 is the only accessible metro I read. And it proved to be true. My partner and me had a larger suitcase (rollable), he had a cabin size suite case and I had a bag. We easily walked all the way down to the respective metro platform using escalators and one lift. The ticket machines are multi lingual and easy to use. Having arrived at Gare de Lyon we followed the sign for exit "1 Bd. Diderot". Only the very last part of the surfacing procedure was a flare of about 12 steps. Crossing two traffic lights, walking 50m and there we were. - The less accessible parts were the few steps in the hotel between reception and the elevator :-)

We arrived at 15:00hrs and were puzzled that the receptionist said he will inquire if our room is ready (official check-in time was 15:00hrs). It was. He gave a run-down of the Diamond benefits which I completed with "a room upgrade upon availability". He answered that we had a King Deluxe with view. I replied that this was exactly the category I booked and paid for. To be honest, I checked in advance and saw all rooms gone. They must have been pretty full. They had reserved room 703 for us which is on top floor and at the end of the small hall way. On the upper floors there are less rooms than on the lower floor. However there was a staff room opposite our room and we had door banging throughout the afternoon when the house keeping ladies assembled there.

There are two elevators. The first one is a historic model, quite modernized, all grids (except for the floor to stand on), takes 3 persons maximum (or the two of us with our luggage). A trainee helped us to a second elevator which we gladly accepted. However, this ended up in the house keeping sector being welcomed by utterly irritated house keeping staff. The supervising house keeper than showed us to our room.

Our room was spacious but lacked a proper seating area with arm chair. We had a small hallway that was shut by a second door. Great thing. However, we found out that the neighboring bath was just adjacent to that hallway and room. And that enabled us to nearly follow conversation from there. On the opposite I did not hear voices from the neighboring room itself. We had a Nespresso machine but did not get original Nespresso coffee capsules (not good). The bed was comfortable. The bath room had a spacious shower (hand held, no rain shower) and a small window to open.

Although on top floor, walls were not sloped because the had built-in cupboards. The window was nearly from floor to ceiling but not wide. Next time I would prefer a room on floor 6 for more daylight. The window did not isolate too well, we still heard traffic when closed. The view was interesting and pleasant. To the right the Gare de Lyon (the clock tower was not in view from our room) and leaning a bit out the column on the Place de Bastille was visible to the left.

House keeping was basically good and very friendly but a bit hit or miss. Soap was replaced on morning 1 and 2, shampoo and shower gel replaced although still more than half full on morning 2, the room was only superficially made on morning 3. Strange pattern.

In terms of location I find this hotel very convenient. We had dinner at the "Train Bleu" in the Gare de Lyon the first evening, we had an opera show in the Opera de Bastille the last afternoon - both perfectly walkable. (I vistited the "Train Bleu" the 3rd time. Perfect dishes, service has gone down and it gets full, full, full with English speaking people. Only that you know if you want to go there for the fantastic interior)

Breakfast offered a rare thing: coffee and tea is served. No eggs made to order (I usually don't care but it was the retro benefit in HGI's "those days"...). Breakfast staff was attentive, cleaning tables rather quickly and if a table hasn't been set yet they were happy to set it up quickly if you chose to sit there.

There was one receptionist (Laetitia) which was an asset to it all. Always well humored, friendly, attentive, patient, focussed on problem solving. This is not based on my own experiences only but from what I observed. On check-out we met the GM who was interested in our experiences. Since we wanted to get to the train station on time I promised to report back by email which I did. And received an immediate reply.

The hotel has preserved its old fashioned charme. It was my first Tapestry hotel stay and I think this sub brand is a addition to the Hilton hotel family.