Hotel de la Cigogne

Hotel de la Cigogne

Place Longemalle sits a few minutes from Lake Geneva and the old town, and Hôtel de la Cigogne occupies a historic building right on the square, at the centre of the city's business and commercial district. Walk past the doorman and the lobby announces itself with a running fountain, a wall mural tracing the city's monuments, and a grand fireplace lit on cold nights. The same Genevan family has run the hotel for three generations, and it belongs to Relais & Châteaux. Fifty rooms and suites range from a 25 square metre Classic up to a 70 square metre Family Suite, several with their own fireplace, and all with air conditioning, minibar and free WiFi. What no other hotel on the square offers is two full restaurants side by side: Restaurant de la Cigogne, where chef Nicolas Pasquier cooks seasonal French menus against a 240-bottle wine list, and Balila, the Lebanese kitchen of chef Hussein Hadid, both running continuously from noon to 10pm with a shared terrace outside. Concierge staff arrange transfers, tickets and babysitters, and guests use the partner Holmes Place club for a workout. Three meeting rooms, including a 38 square metre salon for up to 40 people, keep it usable for business, and the family suite makes it workable with children too. This isn't the hotel for anyone chasing a late bar scene, since both kitchens stop service at 10pm, and the half-board package starts at CHF 230 a person. What it suits is a traveller who wants the middle of Geneva, two kitchens instead of one, and a fireplace lit before midnight. A Genevan family has run this 50-room Relais & Châteaux hotel on Place Longemalle for three generations, pairing a French restaurant with a Lebanese one under the same roof until 10pm. It suits travellers who want Geneva's centre and two kitchens, not a late bar scene.