Hôtel Soierie, Lyon

We arrived along rue Mercière as the restaurant lanterns were coming on, the old bouchon street already filling with the smell of butter and shallots. Hôtel Soierie occupies a tall Renaissance house mid-street, its 16th-century stone left bare in the lobby and lit like the sculpture it is. The theme, lightly worn, is silk: Lyon's old trade reimagined in woven wall panels, jacquard cushions and the soft sheen of brass. A receptionist poured us a glass of Côtes du Rhône from the bar next door and walked us up a stone stair worn into gentle hollows by four centuries of feet. The effect is historic and contemporary at once, and entirely Lyonnais.

The room

Our room, on the third floor, made the heritage tactile. A headboard woven by an atelier up in the Croix-Rousse ran the width of the bed in deep garnet and bronze, set against walls of unadorned lime plaster and a floor of wide oak boards. A beam, original and unapologetic, crossed the ceiling. The lighting was warm and brass-fitted, the minibar stocked with regional apéritifs, the linen crisp and white. The bathroom, in dark slate with brass taps, had a roomy walk-in shower and silk-soft towels that felt of a piece with the theme. Triple glazing kept rue Mercière's evening cheer at a pleasant remove.

Hôtel Soierie wears Lyon's silk history like a well-cut jacket: present in every thread, never worn as costume.The Suite Edit

Service & food

The team is knowledgeable and proud of their city, the sort who will steer you past the tourist bouchons to one where the quenelle is made properly. Food is a genuine strength here: the ground-floor wine bar pours a serious Rhône and Beaujolais list by the glass and serves charcuterie, Saint-Marcellin and a rotating hot plat in the evenings. Breakfast leans local, with fresh baguette, brioche aux pralines, regional cheeses and good coffee. It stops short of a full restaurant, but with the wine bar downstairs and the whole of rue Mercière outside, that hardly registers as a shortfall.

The verdict

Hôtel Soierie suits food-and-wine travellers, design enthusiasts and city-breakers who want to be at the gastronomic centre of Lyon: couples and curious solo diners will thrive. The honest caveat is noise. Rue Mercière is one of Lyon's liveliest dining streets and stays animated late; the triple glazing copes admirably, but anyone wanting silence with the windows open should request a courtyard-side room. We ate and drank our way through two nights and left convinced Lyon is France's most underrated weekend.