PRICE:
Frommer's Very Highly Recommended

In terms of opulence, it's a notch down from the Beau-Rivage, but since its prices are less expensive and it's a lot less pretentious, many clients seek it out. Although not in the ultratop tier, it's grand and glamorous, and after a complete overhaul that its owners, France's stylish and upscale Concorde chain, completed in 2006, it's better than it's ever been. Royalty from Liechtenstein, Monaco, and the Netherlands, as well as international dignitaries and celebrities such as the guitarist Andrés Segovia, have stayed in this 1865 hotel directly on the lake. Designed by an Italian architect, the building belonged to the kingdom of Sardinia for a long time, functioning for a period as a kind of unofficial residence and embassy. The main salon, a double-tiered arched extravaganza, with marble columns, elaborate Corinthian capitals, and a balustraded loggia overlooking a massive crystal chandelier, is in all the architectural guidebooks to Geneva. Since its overhaul, bedrooms here come with comfortably contemporary furnishings and color schemes of pale blue for rooms facing the lake, and soft rose for rooms facing the city. The marble and tile bathrooms are luxuriously equipped. On the lobby level of this hotel is a rather daringly decorated bar and restaurant, the Nobel Bar and Vertig'O, which evokes hip and quirky nocturnal Paris.

Copyright: Excerpted from Frommer's Switzerland, 13th Edition, (c) 2008, Wiley Publishing, Inc.

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