Fodor's Expert Review Fairmont Le Montreux Palace

Silver mansards and yellow awnings flag this vast institution as a landmark, though its aristocratic interiors are now filled with cell-phone-chatting travelers. This colossal belle époque folly of stained glass, frescoes, and flamboyant molded stucco opened in 1906 and counts Vladimir Nabokov among its notable former residents (a bronze of the author stands in the lakeside gardens). Updated facilities do not compromise the allure of this grand hotel. You can be cyber-connected from any corner or secluded in a massage suite at the Willow Stream Spa. Guest rooms have fruitwood furniture, bold accessories, and whirlpool tubs trimmed in granite and marble.