I’ve been traveling for 47 years, staying in hotels across Europe, Asia, the Americas, and beyond. I’ve experienced budget stays and five-star resorts. But nothing — absolutely nothing — prepared me for the nightmare that was Residhotel in Lyon, France (booked through Orbitz, which I use frequently).
We were traveling through the EU and needed a quick overnight stop in Lyon before heading to Paris. We booked two rooms — one for my wife and me, and one for my daughter and son-in-law traveling with us. This will go down as the single worst place we have ever stayed. Here’s why:
1. Air conditioning didn’t work in either room — in the middle of summer.
2. The property looks and feels like it’s stuck in the early 1990s, without any charm — just pure neglect.
3. The toilet rooms were humid, hot, filthy, and reeked of urine.
4. The entire place smelled faintly of roach spray, as if pests were an ongoing problem.
5. Carpets looked like they were straight out of the late 1980s — stained, worn, and beyond saving.
6. Cigarette burns on the couches.
7. Pieces of the shower fixtures were literally falling off.
8. Electrical panel switches were loose and hanging — a safety hazard.
9. Toilet bowls were permanently yellowed and disgusting.
10. The furniture arrangement made no sense and looked thrown together from a junk shop.
11. Tiny, outdated televisions with no internet connection.
12. One of our rooms was not even cleaned when we walked in — unmade bed, dirty bathroom, tras
