A historic hospital on the Rhône is the monumental setting for the latest opening from InterContinental in the shape of Lyon’s Hôtel Dieu. Stylish rooms blend original architectural features with on-trend contemporary design, dining is modern Lyonnais and cocktail bar Le Dôme is fast becoming a local A-lister address. The hotel opening in 2019, and no Lyon hotel has been so anticipated. One in three Lyonnais were born at this grande dame of a historic monument; it was the city’s maternity hospital from 1493 until 2010.
A sweeping, 280m-long façade by 18th-century architect Jacques-Germain Soufflot (of Pantheon-in-Paris fame) is the magnificent prelude to a strikingly contemporary interior by celebrated hotel designer Jean-Philippe Nuel. His dramatic mix of sumptuous Verel de Belval silks and rustic stone-flag flooring, the wall of antiquarian medicinal books behind reception, the coffered dome ceiling soaring 32-metre and central altar-like floral display in the hotel bar are but some of the countless clever, breathtakingly beautiful evocations of the hotel’s unique past.
