A weekend at La Reserve Geneva
What we love:
- The unique design - Feeling more like a private club in Paris instead a Swiss luxury resort
- The fact of being an urban resort - just 5 car minutes by from the centre plus resort-vibes
- A vast spa area with a cool indoor pool and one of the best gyms we have seen
- Superb service - even the housekeeping knew my last name as the servers in the restaurant
- It's all about scents, as soon as you enter you will be in the La Reserve mood
Best for:
Spa, Luxury, Gourmet and City Break
Points:
9.5 out of 10
The perfect song:
Freedom Island -
The Free
We are in Switzerland, the small European country with the continents best luxury hotels (together with Italy and London). I recently had the pleasure to stay at some amazing Swiss properties such as on Lake Lucerne, St Moritz and now on Lake Geneva. When it comes to Lac Leman - as Lake Geneva is called in French - you would think of the glamorous Beau Rivage Palace in Lausanne, the Montreux Palace or the Four Seasons Des Bergues in Geneva center. However would you also think of La Reserve as one of Europe's best places to stay? Most probably not at first instance (as La Reserve is known to be intimate and frequented by the real insiders) and so did I. When you are going to stay at a Swiss five star hotel you already have certain expectations (and primary only big ones) but you never expect the wow effect though. Interestingly hotels in Switzerland are the ones that will surprise you most - be aware of high price tags! Therefore I love when I go to a hotel with certain high expectations and they even make it possible to exceed my highest expectations. Honestly, it rarely happens - probably twice a year! But what does that have in common with the La Reserve Geneva? And why is this relevant?
It is simple as that story. My colleague Lukas decided spontaneously to visit me in Lausanne for the weekend. I was keen in showing him the Lac Leman from the most amazing site and was looking for amazing properties that were opened in Janaury and still create a little story. Since we had the pleasure to meet the Director of Sales and Marketing at the ILTM Cannes, my choice was sure. I finally had an occasion to stay at one of Switzerland's coolest high-end hotels. I picked my colleague up and we were heading towards Geneva. Of course shopping was a must, being Sale time. So we ended up with Shopping totes by Burberry, Uggs, Globus and Tods. Well, it escalated like the weekend before in Amsterdam but let's not go into details...
Just a short car ride of 10 minutes from Geneva we arrived in the town of Bellevue, where La Reserve Resort is situated. A small, unimpressive gate opened and we were driving through the vast ground of the resort. Honestly, we were not just impressed of the fire places outside the entrance and the elegantly dressed staff members waiting for us, we were also speechless of the cars parked at the hotel. From the latest Ferarri, via Bugatti to the most expensive Bentely. Welcome to the most glamorous place in Western Switzerland!
The Guest Experience Manager Justine was waiting along the bellmen and as soon as I stepped out of the car she was already doing the right thing by saying: "Welcome Mr Egger! Hello Mr Spendler". The first Wow-effect happened! The next Wow-effect followed when she was heading directly to the Junior Suite with us - at La Reserve no guest has to hassle with the paperwork at an indescreet front desk. She explained everything about the room and honestly I loved everything about it. From the gorgeous design, the comfy sofa, the out-of-this-world bed, the ultra glamorous bathroom with bath tub, double vanities and separated toilet and rainshower. While I was so impressed by the vast welcome amenities (consisting of a chocolate, fruit cocktails, fruit plate and a full size bottle of the company's own champagne), my highlight remained the perfect smelling toiletries - and the best they are branded by the hotel itself. I felt that the entire hotel had a signature scent and I really really love this - although some people cannot stand this. For me Wow-effect number four.
The next thing is something that has even been new to me and is more than wow. Instead of using trolleys for the housekeeping team, maids are running around in chic Longchamp bags where you can gather towels and shower gels popping out. Isn't that an impressive way of showing discreet service? By the way, once the housekeeping arrived to ask when they could prepare our room for turn-down, they also spoke to me by last name! This is outstanding service. It's in the little details that show that a hotel is simply managed in a flawless way. We both did not found a thing inside the Junior Suite that we would like to change. Everything was 10/10 points and they even provided any wardrobe amenity you can dream of - I am still wishing I would have taken the suit bag with the hotel logo on it.
Before we headed to our dinner reservation at the hotel's michelin starred restaurant, Lukas and me discovered the gym and spa. Never would I have imagined that the Spa as well as the gym is so big. Within the gym there were four different rooms where one could do the work-out with the absolute latest equipment and most elegant finishings. What's better than a dip into the wonderful mosaic tiled pool after the work-out? Probably nothing and so did we hit the most impressive part of the spa at La Reserve. In general the spa was flawless as well, maybe the pool could have been warmer being it January and there is no jacuzzi on site. They even have a Spa restaurant with a small complimentary buffet (including fruits, water and various nuts) plus a menu for lunch and breakfast. I loved the fact that you have the choice between a healthy breakfast option and the regular breakfast at the main restaurant. For dinner we had the pleasure to try the michelin starred chinese restaurant which is predicted to be the best on Lake Lemain.
Since we already did the workout during the evening, we had breakfast in the main restaurant. The design and set-up was truly unbelievable: they had a decorated tree in the middle of the restaurant that even looked real. There is a small buffet with products of the highest quality (including best salmon, fresh sushi, wonderdul cakes and Millefeuille (I adored the rasberry one!), as well as a menu with every dish you can just dream of. Don't ask why bur anyhow we both were stuck at the classics and had scrabled eggs and omlette. The only thing that was missing has been the champagne ;) Fun aside, who needs alcohol when there is such an impressive breakfast buffet with a service that already catches your breath?
So what else is to say than that La Reserve Geneve perfectly represents the definition "Urban Luxury Resort", since it is still located in the city of Geneva, tough feels like a resort rather than just a hotel. If you stay at the hotel from spring to autumn, you will benefit from the complimentary boat shuttle with a Venetian luxury boat from La Reserve's private pier (reachable via a 5-minute walk along the outdoor pool and through the hotel's own tunnel) to Geneva centre. We did not have the chance to do that so we are already looking for a date to return... How about you?
We were invited by Michel Reybier Hospitality Group and stayed at La Reserve Geneve for editorial purposes. However all above written expresses our own opinion and has not been influenced.
