I stayed in the Hotel Royal Manotel during a New Scientist tour, hosted by Kirker, entitled CERN & Mont Blanc: Dark and Frozen Matter (see trip report).
This is going to be a short report, because for me there was one “killer”, which I will stress below.
Arriving
Driving into Geneva, my car navigator took me to the hotel with easy. The one thing that surprised me was that you can (must) drive on the trams rails and routes. Initially I did not find a place to stop in front of the hotel, so I had to drive around again, and go directly to the hotel parking.
A valet came out immediately to help park my car, and I recovered my keys at the end of my stay. The cost was CHF 45 per day (for hotel guests), and space was limited (35 parking spaces). It’s reported that you can book a parking, but I was told this was not possible.
You can’t find any photos of the parking, but space is very limited. To a point that each space was fitted with an angled ramp so that cars could fit. Fortunately the valet did the parking, etc.
For me, the parking was a bit expensive, but the valets did a great job.
Check-in was fine, and the hotel reception worked well during my stay.
Frankly, scanning through the photos of the hotel on the web, I could hardly recognise my room (which looked far more like an ordinary city 4-star room).
The hotel is on Rue de Lausanne, between the train station (Gare Cornavin) and the lakeside. It’s only a 10-minute walk to the Old Town (on the left bank, across the Rhône), but it feels like another city altogether. As seen in the above feature image the architecture is pragmatic rather than charming. It looks designed for middle-income housing and small offices, not for tourists. That whole area looks “slightly worn around the edges”. I’ve seen worse, but I’ve also seen better, and I expected better from a Geneva hotel.
Near the railway station means also near to the area of legalised sex work. It’s safe enough (I didn’t feel threatened even in the evenings), but it has a rougher, after-dark feeling that contrasts with the manicured calm of the Old Town. Let’s say, diplomatically, that the Right-Bank railway belt, was built for function, not beauty.
The Bedroom
The bedroom was nothing special, but perfectly comfortable, etc. The bed was very comfortable, and the Internet worked, etc. There were 9 different Swiss power sockets, but the usual European-style two-pin plugs worked fine. The view was over the main street, but the noise level was acceptable. Overall, a reasonable, decent 4-star bedroom (water, wall-safe, etc), but just a bit small and boring.
The Bathroom - the "Killer" for Me
The above photos look’s fine, first time around. The bath was a little higher than usual, which might pose a problem for those with some mobility problems (but I presume the hotel has some rooms for “mobility challenged” guests).
But look at the position of the shower and the fixed glass screen. It just means that you must either try to stand in the head end, or end up showering over the entire bathroom floor. And remember the towels are in the head end as well, and the screen is fixed.
This stupid shower arrangement means for me, it’s a killer.
Breakfast
Breakfast was fine. For a 4-star hotel I’ve seen worse, but I’ve also seen better. Perhaps the only criticism is that it’s inside, with no windows. Also there were two coffee machines, but delivering different coffee options, so you had to sometimes wait a bit. It was functional, and not a place to linger in.
Spa
The Spa looks nice. The sauna was hot, but could only really seat two people. The hamman was bigger and was also at a decent temperature. The single relaxing seat was the only one in the Spa area.
