Luxury Lodging And World-Class Dining In Geneva, Switzerland

Forbes

28-03-2025

The Forbes 5-Star riverfront Mandarin Oriental hotel in Geneva
There are more 'luxury' hotels and resorts right now than at any time in history, and more opening all the time, in every corner of the globe. But that begs the question, what makes a luxury hotel luxurious? In many cases hotels are considered luxury properties simply because they say so,
a claim that is too often empty, and there are many times I've seen a misguided belief that spending a lot on marble or bathroom fixtures makes a stay luxurious.
For the true luxury traveler, hotels that succeed must balance a precarious mix of hardware and software, the former in terms of rooms, spas, facilities, bedding and the things you can touch. The latter is staff, training, food and extras, the things that touch you, and this is harder—and what usually makes a place stand apart. When I think of the best and most memorable places I've stayed in three decades of covering travel, it's not bathtubs that come to mind, it's people and experiences.
Every room on the 7th floor has a large outdoor terrace with great city views.
Many years ago, my wife and I stayed at the family-owned Hassler Hotel in Rome, and she left her engagement ring in the safe when we checked out. As soon as we returned the key, someone when up to check, and as we got into a taxi for the airport and the U.S., a staffer came running down the street chasing the taxi to return it. The Hassler is a fantastic hotel from top to bottom, but that is what I will always remember.
After two weeks of traveling through Japan, I checked into Mandarin Oriental Tokyo, and had accumulated a large amount of Japanese coins, which come in an impressive array of shapes and sizes. I emptied my pockets onto the desk and went to dinner. When I returned, a long leather 'boat' had been put out, and all the coins were stacked by type and arranged in a row in it, while all my charger cords were meticulously folded and bundled with little straps. I've seen the cord trick many times since, but the extra attention of the coin art still brings a smile to my face.
Even among the big, recognized 'luxury' brands, few are truly consistent. There are many Four Seasons, Ritz-Carlton and St. Regis properties I've been to that are exceptional, but not all of them. Only a handful of hotel brands get it right every time, and many of these are small groups limited to a very specific region, or in many cases, a single country such as Italy, Morocco, Japan or especially India. Among the bigger global operators, only a handful manage to meet the highest standards of luxury over and over again, even in markets with more challenging labor and service situations, a real mark of excellent leadership. One of these brands is Mandarin Oriental, and I have never been to one of their hotels that is less than exceptional, from Tokyo to Greece to Taipei, and most recently, Geneva, where the Mandarin Oriental is one of only two Forbes 5-Star winners in a city flush with beautiful hotels.
The hotel just opened the first Ottolenghi restaurant outside of London, bringing the star chef's ... More cuisine to Continental Europe for the first time
The Mandarin Oriental Geneva is not new, it just celebrated a quarter of a century of excellence. But it is constantly improving, and the most recent addition is a big one: a few months ago, the hotel opened a new restaurant, the first ever by Chef Yotam Ottolenghi outside the UK. The Israeli born Ottolenghi is quite simply one of the hottest chefs in the world, a leading culinary figure who has been a major impetus behind the recent rise of Mediterranean/Middle Eastern cuisine, and the author of several very big and influential bestselling cookbooks. He has done TV shows, and the London Observer ranked his most famous cookbook, Plenty, in the Top 50 of All-Time. Another, Jerusalem, won the James Beard Award for Best International Cookbook. While he and his restaurants are not vegetarian, he does so many vegetarian recipes that Bon Appétit magazine said he had "made the world love vegetables" He has more than a dozen other major awards, and nine London eateries, and many foodies consider them a must-stop pilgrimage on any trip to England. But now, you can add Geneva to that list.
The new Ottolenghi eatery is in the middle of the lobby, and serves three meals a day, with an open kitchen and large, Argentinean-style wood fired grill, the centerpiece of much of the cooking. I ate multiple meals, and they were all great, but to me the big upgrade is breakfast. They still serve a lavish international buffet option, as hotels like the Mandarin do, and they also offer a menu of Far Eastern specialties such as congee, as hotels like the Mandarin do. But the big addition is his Middle Eastern breakfast specialties, especially his famous shakshuka, a meal worth a special trip for breakfast even if you are staying someplace else in Geneva.
Rooms are very spacious and many have a river view.
That's the big news, but the Mandarin was a 5-Stat hotel before Ottolenghi arrived. Rooms are beautiful and well appointed, and even the toiletries are exceptional. They get the simple things many hotels screw up right, like a simple button that actually shuts all the lights, and really dark blackout shades. They still give you a choice of complimentary newspapers each morning, a dying art. All rooms on the seventh floor have large private outdoor terraces overlooking the river, worth requesting, especially in warmer months. The bar is wonderful, and a great place to stop before dinner or have a business meeting drink.
It is not an especially large property, but has a full spa, fitness center, and unusually, the gym has men's and women's locker rooms each with steam and sauna, available to all guests 24/7, whereas most luxury hotels put these amenities in the spa and make them available only with extra fees for spa treatments. Traveling across multiple time zones with some regularity, I have come to greatly appreciate the positive effects steam and sauna can have on the jet lagged body and love the fact that these are readily available. This is also part of a bigger thing I noticed about the hotel: in an age when many places nickel and dime guests for every little thing, even when you are paying a thousand dollars a night, that is not the case here. It is not cheap to stay at the Mandarin Oriental Geneva, but when you do, you are made to feel special, whether you are in the most basic room or the biggest suite.
The omakase bar at Sachi, one of Geneva's most desirable dining experiences.
The hotel also has another important restaurant, which, like Ottolenghi, draws locals, guests from other hotels and pretty much anyone visiting Geneva who loves food. The fine dining Sachi is a Japanese eatery with a heavy Peruvian influence and sushi bar with omakase options. But no matter where you sit, there are daily multi-course chef's choice tasting menus that are broad, varied and delicious, as well as a full range of a la carte options, and a deep sake list. Sachi is widely considered one of the premier Japanese eatery in all of Switzerland, a gourmet-focused country, and both food and service were impeccable. It is also open for lunch, which many luxury hotel fine dining spots like this are not, another plus for travelers from other time zones.
Attracting business travelers in a city like Geneva is easy for a hotel of this stature, but what impressed me was the effort they make on the leisure side. Geneva is underrated in terms of tourism, and the hotel has pulled out all the stops to help promote the lesser-known attractions and make it a legitimate weekend pleasure spot. The concierge encourages day trips to nearby Annecy, 'The Venice of France,' an easy and charming trip few Americans know about. They work with unique local experiences like the Intium workshop, where you can make your own mechanical Swiss watch to take home, a once in a lifetime experience (I've written about this ultra-cool and fun 'watchmaker for a day' class here at Forbes). Intium has recently added jewelry making and build your own custom Swiss Army Knife classes. They offer guided E-bike tours, winery tours, a full-day private tour of Chamonix, one of the world's most charming mountain towns and the birthplace of mountaineering, in-depth culinary experiences for both Switzerland's famous chocolate and cheese, a guided walking tour of Old Geneva, right outside the door, and even hot air ballooning. If you want to experience the best of Geneva and the surrounding area in high style, there is no better place to start than the Mandarin Oriental.
The MO Bar spans two levels and is great escape.
But at the end of the day, it is the staff and service that set the Mandarin Oriental Geneva apart, omnipresent and flawless. Front desk staff, restaurant staff, bell staff, all do their jobs to perfection. We arrived very early on an overnight flight from the U.S., dropped our bags and went on to a breakfast meeting I had scheduled. When we returned, our bags were all in our room. This is a simple and obvious thing, yet one that the vast majority of luxury hotels fail to do, at any price, and it has always been a pet peeve of mine.
I happened to stay at the hotel for a stretch that included my birthday, which I never announced, but being Europe, you have to show your passport at check-in. Without any comment, on the eve of my birthday we returned from dinner out to find a cake and bottle of wine and handwritten note in the room, and in the morning when I came down, everyone from the valet to the waiter wished me a happy birthday. I've traveled over my birthday many times, but do not recall cake being sent to the room. That is good service. The kind I will remember, and the kind that makes me want to go back to the hotel and its siblings.