My wife and I have just returned from Lille after a 3 night long weekend.
On appearance and location first impression seemed good, however once inside you immediately are faced with the splendour of a hotel stuck in a time warp. You can imagine this hotel was top notch in the sixties and over time has become drab and faded. Our room was on the 2nd floor [203] was large and comfortable, but the decor and cheap wooden laminate flooring lacked warmth and the bathroom was dated a bit grubby and with loose and cracked tiles. Daily the room was cleaned and clean linen was fine. Tea and coffee was supplied in the room but only being left 2 pots of UHT milk and two tea bags meant my wife and I would take it in turns to have a drink.
The staff were good and polite.
Beware of the drinks in the bar though, I thought I was doing well in choosing a beer for five euros however when you pay your bill you will notice that a 3 euro local tax was added to your bill.
We had breakfast each morning and found this to be the best experiance during our stay, the food was varied, well cooked, and well presented.
The whole experience of our break in Lille was dissapointing.
Finally we booked our break with eurostar and could not fault the service especially good was the meal supplied on the train. We travelled standard premium.

We stayed at the Carlton just before Christmas having agonised over several hotels before making a final decision. Our main concern was parking which can be a problem in central Lille according to reports. The Carlton advertises "valet parking" but there isn't much detail on their website and I wasn't sure what to expect. They did confirm the parking reservation by email (at 19 Euros per day) but I had departed before receiving the email (not their fault). So I arrived in the centre of town having never been to Lille before, to find the hotel in a rather pedestrian dominated area with absolutely nowhere to stop, let alone park. The hotel staff were fantastic - they said to just stop in the road, which I did. No-one seemed to care as the traffic was moving at pedestrian pace anyway. A manager from the hotel came out to the car, I got out and unloaded the bags, he got in and drove my car away! Slightly unnerving but fantastic. I later found out that they have use of a private car park about 200m away. The same happened in reverse when we departed. It all worked rather well and I needn't have been concerned.
The hotel is perfectly located for everything and as far as I can tell all the rooms overlook the front one way or another. We had a perfect room just above the "Carlton Hotel" sign overlooking the square which at Christmas was full of fairground attractions and very lively. The view from our room was great but not a sound could be heard as the hotel is soundproofed. When we were leaving we heard a chap complaining at reception about noise from other guests but we didn't have a problem. There was a private party at the hotel that night with folks going to bed in the early hours but you can get that at any hotel. The soundproofing claim does apply to outside noise rather than internal but as I said, we didn't have any issues.
People have commented about the decor, but again, we thought it was fine. The hotel is of the "old fashioned" type but the place is obviously very well maintained with no sign of any wear or tear. Our room was perfect (108) although obviously I can't vouch for every room.
The Carlton has no restaurant although they do have room service. There are many restaurants within walking distance with the closest being across the road about 10 yards from the entrance.
The Christmas market was fine but we had expected it to be bigger. This wasn't a problem though because Lille has a vast number of assorted shops and department stores. You can spend hours, as we did, just walking around the town centre.
Lille and the Carlton Hotel provided us with a marvellous few days away.

If you want to experience Lille at itts best in the winter go to this central hotel .

Stayed here for a weekend. It's a 10 minute walk from getting off the Eurostar and the location is great. Directly opposite the Opera House and a stones throw from the main square. The room was quite large and very comfortable. View from the balcony was great for people watching.

It's a short walk to enjoy having a delicious hot chocolate at the historic Meert Patisserie tea house.

If you go to Lille, definitely stay in the Carlton. Nice hotel.