LE LAC - Appartement 15' Partdieu et Bellecour

😢: I've been using Booking for over 10 years and have never had a bad experience with a host. We arrived in Lyon around 9h and booked the property for the same day, the host, Carl, proceeded to send me an external link asking me to pay a 500€ deposit for a 200€ stay, which would be totally fine, I just wasn't super comfortable doing it on this external website that looked shady. I called Carl several times and sent him several messages, I was very polite and asked if this fee could be paid on the spot. Carl picked up the phone at 15h00 (1 hour before check-in time) and was super rude from the first second, saying he was working and not in a call centre to be answering my calls. I asked again if the deposit could be paid on site and he immediately started yelling saying that this was his way of working and if I did not feel comfortable doing it on his terms it was my problem to find another property and that he would cancel my reservation. I'm on holidays, I don't want to deal with this sort of things, I agreed and hung up. He didn't cancel it, I asked for a cancellation, he waited until after the check-in time to reply so that I would be obliged to pay the full price of the stay in order to cancel. I paid the full price and ended up not staying there. Carl only cares about money and not the guests well being, you should avoid this and any other properties managed by him at all costs..

😊: Well equipped with all the facilities that you need for a nice stay. The apartment was super close to where I needed to be for a conference, so couldn't have been more convenient. The hosts communicated quickly via the Booking.com chat.. 😢: One thing that I'd suggest is that the deposit not be so large. €500 is a lot to pay, especially as it far exceeded the actual cost of renting the apartment for the time I was there..

😊: Good location and easy walk to many places of interest. The keys were collected from a shop at a petrol station two blocks from the apartment, a short walk away and returned after stay.. 😢: All good.

😊: The property was well located. It was clean and had good facilities.. 😢: After my departure I was charged 200 euro to my credit card. When I queried this with Carl he advised that we had taken towels!! I assured him we hadn't and the towels were not there on arrival. He didn't believe me. He also mentioned a stain on the wall which we didn't cause.He has not refunded the 200 euro..

😊: Close to shopping mall and quiet place. 😢: Lack of privacy when there are 4 people sharing the appartement. Should add 1 curtain.