King of the hill

VILLA MAÏA, LYON

French real estate group Maïa’s five-star debut in the hotel business is located atop Lyon’s Fourvière Hill in a former hospital that now houses a four-storey building designed by Jean-michel Wilmotte. French interior designer Jacques Granges has used neutral oatmeal tones with accents of colour, inspired by photographs by Charles Maze that hang above the bed. Expansive windows reveal views of cluttered rooftops backed by the distant surge of Mont Blanc, and landscaped gardens by Louis Benech, an evocative tableau best enjoyed from the heated indoor pool. Meanwhile, the tangle of cobblestone streets and the hodgepodge of Gothic and Renaissance architecture of the city’s old town is just a ten-minute stroll away.

8 Rue du Professeur Pierre Marion, tel: 33.4 7816 0101, villa-maia.com. Rates: from €545