Villa Maia

Villa Maia

Villa Maia stands on Fourvière Hill above Lyon, built on the footprint of a Roman villa, close enough to the Lugdunum theatres that the archaeology is part of the view. The hotel's spa pool carries the connection further: its black and white marble floor reproduces the mosaic uncovered on this exact spot during excavations before construction, a detail no other hotel in the city can borrow. Thirty-seven rooms and suites, each with a private terrace, look out over the Saône and Rhône toward Mont Blanc, decorated by Jacques Grange in oatmeal and brown with circular photographs by Charles Maze, and finished with Carrara marble bathrooms, heated floors and Japanese toilets. Jean-Michel Wilmotte designed the bronze-tinted glass exterior; Louis Benech planted the gardens that face south and ask to be looked at rather than walked through. Downstairs, Christian Têtedoie, Meilleur Ouvrier de France, runs the Michelin-starred restaurant, and the spa, with sauna, steam room, jacuzzi, a 20-metre indoor pool and a fitness room staffed by personal trainers, draws on the site's Roman-bath history. This suits a traveller who wants Lyon's gastronomy and history without leaving a hushed, staffed-for-detail property, someone happy taking a taxi to the shopping district rather than staying in the middle of it. It will read as too quiet for anyone chasing nightlife or a central address within walking distance of the shops; a taxi is part of the routine here. Pets travel for a 30 EUR fee, and the property belongs to Leading Hotels of the World, holds Green Key certification, and keeps staff fluent in English, French, German and Spanish. Thirty-seven rooms mean the calm is structural, not marketed. Built over a Roman villa on Fourvière Hill, Villa Maia turns an on-site archaeological mosaic into its spa pool floor and puts a Michelin-starred kitchen downstairs. Its 37 rooms suit travellers who want Lyon's history and food close at hand, not those wanting to walk straight into the shops.