I could not have had a more stressful journey to Geneva. Unfortunately my plane had a stop-over in London Heathrow and in retrospect that was bound to be a mistake. Following delays in the airport, a cancelled flight, lost luggage and a bizarre interrogation by Police, I finally made it to Geneva and on to the hotel. I was exhausted and upon entering my room I found the bed almost in line with the swing of the door. The room was oddly small but, with no energy to do anything about it, I climbed into bed and tried to finally find some bliss.
Unfortunately the consequence of placing a bed so near the door is that you spend the whole night reluctantly hearing every sound that emanates from the corridors. If that was not bad enough I had forgotten to hang the do-not-disturb sign on the door so my lie-in was brutally interrupted by the grand entrance of a cleaning lady.
We were not off to a great start but following a quick fix by the very accommodating general manager I was transferred to the most delightful room imaginable. It was a Deluxe Suite with a magnificently large bedroom, an enormous bed, two bathrooms, a living room cum dining room and the most incredible direct views of the famous Jet d’Eau.
Kempinski took over the hotel in December 2006 and by the soft opening in March 2007 they had already made some key upgrades. As the general manager, Patrick Mossu, conferred to me, “I don’t know if you visited the hotel before but it really didn’t draw in the exterior.” That is probably the most remarkable aspect of the Grand Kempinski: this hotel has finally embraced its matchless location. So many times throughout my stay, regardless of whether I was in my room, at the restaurant or in the lounge I would just gaze out and admire Lake Geneva’s landmark spray of water in the foreground of the majestic Mont Blanc.
Of course another significant improvement to the hotel is in the food and beverage department. There are now four restaurants within the premises that are serviced by Kempinski. My personal favourite was the main restaurant that has been designed around the theme of a bakery. There is an actual baker’s oven that produces delicious croissants, baguettes, tarts and tartines through breakfast, lunch and dinner. Of course the other restaurant that deserves a mention is The Grill. This is an exemplary meat restaurant, devoid of smokers, with perfect lighting, that has by far the best beef in town.
But what is truly fascinating about the transformation of this hotel is how the local residents of Geneva have embraced it. Locals who had previously given up all hope have now come back in full force and constitute some seventy per cent of the business as far as the restaurants are concerned. Furthermore as Mossu explained to me, “Not only that but we have many local diners coming to eat at 10:30pm which in Switzerland is unheard of!”
But what may be of utmost interest to our esteemed readers is the creation of the 1,080 square-metre Geneva Suite due to open this summer. You see in the old days the owner of the Noga Hilton kept the top two floors as his own personal apartment but now they have been converted, by the adept hand of Interior Designer Tarek Hegazi, into the biggest suite in Europe. Furthermore it has been designed with the Arab customer in mind as there is a clear separation of areas with the first floor created as a more public space with its large dining area, living room, bedrooms, office space and lounge space. Whereas the second floor is the private area with two very large bedrooms, a dining room, a games room, a gym and even a spa.
All in all, the hotel has a vast number of offerings under one roof. Be it a spa, salt-water pool, jewellery shops, the best cigar shop in Geneva, a pharmacy, and a plethora of other services that benefit guests at the hotel. Apparently there are even plans to open an art gallery soon to exhibit both local and international artists. Yet what makes this hotel worth coming back to time and again is the standard of the service.
So as you can tell this is a great hotel but if my experience from the first night taught me anything it is that you must choose your room wisely. It is worth spending a little extra to get the lake view and what's more if you can stretch your budget it is definitely worth upgrading to a larger room. The larger it is of course the happier you will be. Oscar Wilde once said, “I have simple tastes, I am always satisfied with the best.” We can only imagine how content he would have been had he ever had had the chance to stay at the Grand Kempinski’s Geneva Suite.
