Kat's 9 Lives

Who doesn't love a summer trip to France?  Well, this year there was some weather issues.  Sure, it was gorgeous outside with the sun beating down but don't forget the heat that comes with the intense sunlight.
After a long flight from the US to Lyon, France, we headed straight for the closest public transportation.  Always plan where you are flying into and how you would get to your hotel.  One must choose the hotel carefully as it will be the primary location for you to travel in and out every day.  Don't forget that you will have to depart from this hotel to your next destination.
Ms. Lin Guide and I are very good at planning.  Of course she taught me a lot from her experienced travels.  To get from the airport to Lyon you can take the Rhonexpress, Rue de la Villette Station.  After we arrived, we dragged our luggage across the tracks through the Gare Part-Dieu where newly arrived tourists can see the beautiful ONLY LYON sign.
I thought the sign was very creative.  It almost seems like a palindrome but I like the idea of using their own name to represent their city.  With the beautiful sunset hitting the lion is an eye catcher.  Tons of people resting and sitting around the sign brings out the liveliness of the city.
Across from the station is a large shopping center for most of your shopping needs.  They have a Monoprix and Carrefour for groceries.  The first thing we did is went in to pick up a nice bottle of Oragina.
From the station we could see our hotel, the Radisson Blu Hotel that peaks out above all buildings.  Even though we could see our hotel, we had to figure out how to get to it.
First we thought we could walk through the shopping center as it is a huge mall, but alas there was no direct way out.  So don't make the mistake to cross through the shopping center.  It sent us on a huge loop that we could not really get out of.
Even though we were walking towards a towering Radisson, it was not as simple as one would think.  The hotel is elevated and has a unique entrance way.  You can enter from the bottom and take the elevator up to the 32nd floor to check in.  Little did we know that the simplest way was the most direct way.  On the last day when we left we just walked under the tunnel to get to the train station.  It was pretty simple and quick, especially in the early morning.
The inside of the Radisson was very interesting.  As we were checking in, I sat down at the nearby couch and looked up to check out the entire hotel.  I think the inside looks like a beehive, as if we are all living in our own honeycomb.
There's only two elevators to take guests to their room and floor.  The other two elevators take guests to the ground floor where you can grab a taxi or have them call you one and across the street was the Part-Dieu Servient Tramway stop that is convenient to travel around the city.
As many people know that space in Europe is limited so the hotel rooms are always smaller than what we are use to in most of the US.  We got two beds but as you can see they are set next to each other so there is not much space in the room.  On top of the bed was one pair of slippers for guests to use.  Most king sized beds in Europe are two small beds pushed together as well.  I always keep an eye out because there is a chance that the two beds begin to separate and you will fall through the cracks if you are not careful.  =D
They have a small mini bar station next to the bathroom.  The room was clean and had your usual table/desk plus TV.
Being that the Radisson is so high up, you get a very good view of the city from the window as well.
Their bathroom was very clean and offered a nice blue hue. They offer a robe for guests to use in the room.  There is a wall hair dryer as well.
All in all the hotel was clean.  Their location is convenient to come in and out of the city.  The tram right outside the lower level is convenient too to get in and out of the city.  We were barely in the room.  Most of the time when we were out traveling so it doesn't matter where we slept as long as it was clean and convenient.  The Radisson Blu Hotel would be a good place to stay if you were only staying a few nights.
Radisson Blu Hotel, Lyon
129, Rue Servient
F-69326 Cedex
Lyon France
Tel: +33 (0) 4 78 63 5500
Fax: +33 (0) 4 78 63 5520