Last Updated on June 29, 2022

Hotels and More in Geneva

While Geneva has its fair share of five-star hotels from the leading groups (There’s a Ritz Carlton and a Four Seasons both lining the road that runs alongside the lake, for example), it’s also worth exploring some of the boutique hotel options in this charming city.  I stayed at Hotel Bristol, a four-star boutique hotel a few seconds from the lake and really enjoyed being somewhere that had a personal touch.  

While it’s large for a boutique hotel, it is still family-owned and you’ll find pictures of the owner’s family on the walls in the public areas of the building. If you’d like somewhere with all the trappings of a five-star hotel but with four-star pricing and a rather more personal touch, Hotel Bristol is the place to head for.

The spacious rooms are decorated in art deco style.  From experience, everything is really comfortable and the hotel is quiet and peaceful with triple glazing making any of the street-facing rooms totally quiet.  There are plenty of sockets and USB plugs, mirrors where you need them and space to tuck away all your clothes, shopping and secret chocolate stash.  Bathrooms are clean and modern too.

For women travellers, the hotel has nine ‘Ladies First’ rooms which have been specially designed and equipped to provide extra comfort and security for female travellers.  You’ll find a walk-in shower, Molton Brown toiletries, an ultra-powerful hairdryer and even hair irons.  The rooms are all on the first floor of the hotel, in their own corridor – with street views or looking out over Mont-Blanc Square.  The hotel has a wellness centre open to all residents, whether you want treatments or just relax in the sauna, steam room and jacuzzi.

My own room was on the fourth floor and looked out over the Square, a view that I really appreciated.  Comfortably furnished with a large desk/dressing table and an armchair together with an enormous, sumptuous bed, I didn’t want to leave.

Hotel Bristol serves an excellent breakfast in their restaurant Cote Square,  with a selection of local cured meats and cheeses, breads and more in addition to the normal hot and cold buffet and special orders for eggs.

Better still, the restaurant is open throughout the day and offers the kind of food that makes it a destination.  I enjoyed a delicious lunch there, feasting on a menu that included perch du lac (the small fish that live in Lac Leman are a local speciality) and a chocolate dessert that wouldn’t have been out of place in any Michelin restaurant.

If you want to stay in the Old Town, there’s really only one option – Les Armures.  It’s a charming place, an 18th-century building that has been carefully renovated to retain much of the original infrastructure.  It sits between Maison Tavel and the Cathedral, a stone’s throw from Place du Bourg de Four. With just xx rooms, it’s often fully booked but, if you can’t actually sleep there, you can enjoy the restaurant. 

Les Armures too has a restaurant which is well known.  Here you’ll find a selection of traditional swiss specialities.  It’s the place to come for fondue – I felt totally indulgent eating fondue for one(!) and raclette or for plates of delicious local charcuterie and cheese.

The outdoor terrace at Les Armures is perfect if the weather is fine.

Looking for something a bit cosier? Indoors at Les Armures, there’s a charming restaurant where you might easily think you are in a ski resort.  I’ll definitely be back when the weather gets a bit chillier.

Meanwhile, for a totally different vibe, I went along to the Cottage Café to enjoy a healthy al-fresco lunch with an Asian twist.  In the heart of Brunswick Park, it’s set in and around an old gardener’s shed and serves the kind of food we all crave on weekends away and on holidays but don’t always find easily when on a short break or holiday in new surroundings. 

The menu has a range of cocktails, beer and wine, salads and hot dishes, with tapas and small plates appearing later in the day.  Perfect for a light snack or salad, you can sit indoors or enjoy the alfresco terrace with views over the lake if you prefer.  

It’s the kind of place where guests are a mix of local people and visitors and where you really don’t feel as if you are in a tourist hotspot.  So, for those moments when you just want to chill, it’s recommended.

Sadly for me, though perhaps thankfully for my stomach, I missed out on the Gourmet lunchtime cruise on a Belle Epoque boat, but fully plan on trying that the next time I am there.

I also paid a brief visit to La Halle de Rive and, had I been staying for longer would definitely have indulged in some of their local specialities.

It’s a large covered market where you can buy all the local meats and cheeses, fruit and vegetables and some delicious-looking pies, the Swiss equivalent of our raised pork pies, Pate Vaudois

Geneva was so much more than I’d expected – I particularly appreciated the city ambience in a laid-back, safe and clean setting. 

Of course, a stunning lake to enjoy with the Alpen backdrop perhaps helped a little bit. But, as is always the case, it was the people that made Geneva so special. In the case of the Hotel Bristol, my home for this stay, I was really touched by the story about how the owner’s son, a helicopter pilot spent his adult life working as a helicopter pilot.  He carried out more than 300 rescue operations, many in the Swiss Alps, before a fatal crash when he was just 24 years old.  In his memory, his mother, the owner of the Hotel Bristol Geneva, set up FXB (the Francois-Xavier Bagnoud Association) – a programme of economic and community support for struggling families.  You’ll find Francois’ portrait as you go up the stairs and many of the hotel rooms have pictures of the work that the charity set up in his name carries out.  It’s hard to leave without feeling part of this extended and generous family – and it makes for a very special Hotel stay.

 

Useful links

For more about Hotel Bristol check their website 

For Les Armures and their restaurant, check here

Check the menu and more for the Cottage Cafe

To find out more about the Gourmet Cruise on a Belle Epoque Boat, check their site

For La Halle de Rive check here

For more about what to see and do in Geneva, check our earlier feature

For general information about the city, see the Geneva Tourist Board Website

We were guests of the tourist board but all content is editorially given