Hotel Review: Novotel Genéve Centre, Geneva, Switzerland - January 2015

I recently had the pleasure of spending 4 days (3 nights) in the Swiss city of Geneva, and stayed at the Novotel Genéve Centre which is located within the city between the Pâquis-Temple and Mont-Blanc districts. The hotel is a 7 minute walk from Geneva's central station (Gare de Cornavin), and is also a 7 minute walk from the shore of the North Eastern tip of Lake Geneva, where it pours out to become the River Rhône.

Whilst making my way to the hotel, I had noticed in the street called Rue de Berne, (which is left around the corner from the main entrance of the hotel) that there were a few 'unsavoury' looking characters hanging around in groups on street corners, as well as a couple of ladies whom I assumed were prostitutes. My suspicions were confirmed when I later found out that this was also Geneva's 'red light district'. I'm mentioning this now, so as to paint an accurate account of my experience. I would like to stress absolutely that at no point was I or my wife approached or bothered by any of these people, but others may find this off-putting. This is of course no fault of Novotel's who employed security guards to keep those they didn't want in the hotel out of it. There was also a sign near the main entrance warning people to keep an eye on their belongings.

To access the upper floors where the bedrooms are located, it is necessary to use the elevators, which required your key card to operate - another useful security barrier employed by the hotel.

I paid 472 CHF (Swiss Francs), which equates to £307 GBP / 393 Euro / $466 US. This was via Booking.com and was vastly cheaper than the cheapest room rate quoted on the hotel website: http://www.accorhotels.com/gb/hotel-3133-novotel-geneve-centre/index.shtml which states rooms are from 180 CHF per night. For our 472 CHF we had a 2+2 room (king sized bed with double sofa bed), with breakfast for two people included, along with a local public transport travel card which covered buses, trolleybuses, trams, yellow lake boats and trains between Geneva and the airport. This saved us 10.60 CHF per person per day, so over the four days this saved us 84.80 CHF (£55.29 GBP / 70.61 Euro / $83.68 US). Geneva is quite an expensive city in terms of every day tourist expenditure, including food and drink, so any saving made is a welcome one.

The room itself was a very good size, warm and comfortable. I have no real gripes about it, other than the separate toilet room not having its own sink, which I think it should have for hygiene purposes. The bathroom had both a bath and a separate shower, and the bedroom came with free tea and coffee making facilities (however no milk ever, which we found strange), it also had a free to use safe. Storage was ample, although there were only six coat hangers in the wardrobe. The bed was very comfortable.

Breakfast was OK, I've had better, and I've had worse. The bacon was a little over done and fatty for my liking, and I found the turkey sausages a bit weird. The ratatouille was so bitter it was inedible to me personally, and the scrambled eggs whilst tasty were stone cold one day. With that said, the bread, salads, yoghurts, pastries and cereals were great.

All of the staff were friendly and helpful and I have no complaints about them whatsoever. The building was very modern, and the lobby high-tech with computers and a touch screen TV.

I did enjoy my stay here, and for the price that I paid, would certainly stay there again in future.

This film features views of the hotel exterior, reception, lobby, elevator, corridor, bedroom, bathroom, restaurant and breakfast buffet.

To see a film that I made of Geneva whilst staying at the hotel, click here: http://youtu.be/lqwbzVR06OE .

To see a film of Geneva trams, click here: http://youtu.be/lfLNwuo8gNM .

To read more about Novotel, click here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Novotel .

To read reviews about Novotel Genéve Centre on TripAdvisor, click here: http://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/Hotel_Review-g188057-d497890-Reviews-Novotel_Geneve_Centre-Geneva.html .

To read more about Geneva, click here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geneva .

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