My husband and I will be spending 3 nights in Geneva in March. I'll be 6 months pregnant then and it'll be our last holiday before baby makes 3 so for that reason (and the fact that I'm likely to be lounging around a lot) thought we'd forego our usual attitude ( the hotel is just a place to sleep at night and basic will do) and treat ourselves to something special (I'm thinking up to 300 Euros per room per night) .. What would be ideal would be a hotel with a spa or even better an indoor heated pool.. Does anyone have a recommendation?

I personally would not stay in Geneva, which I don’t think is that charming a town and which is at the wrong end of the lake, IMO, as you don’t get the grreat mountain views you do at the other end. I would stay in Lausanne, Montreux or Vevey, the lovely charming towns along the lake with spectacular viwes. Two places I can strongely reommend are:

Lausanne Palace & Spa
Grand-Chêne 7-9
1002 Lausanne
Tel: (+41-21) 331-3131
Fax: (+41-21) 323-2571
http://www.lausanne-palace.com/

Le Mirador Kempinski, Lake Geneva
CH-1801 Mont-Pèlerin (Vevey)
Lake Geneva, Switzerland
Tel: (41-21) 925-1111
Fax: (41-21) 925-1112
http://www.kempinski.com/en/index.htm


Both have indoor pools. The Spa at eh Lausanne Palace is small but really excellent, some of the best treatments I have had. (I will look for the name of the man who gave me most of my treatments if you are interested.) The spa at the Mirador is a Givency Spa and has some good treatments, and the hotel has one of the best gyms I have seen it a hotel, lots of new machines, great steam and shower rooms, and the gym itself has a stunning viewe of the lake and mountains from floor to ceiling windows. Both hotels would be a great place to relax and spend time in. The Lausanne one is in downton Lausanne, which ischamring and you can walk aorund a bit. The Mirador is on a high hill overlooking the lake and there are lots of wallks in the area. There should be rooms in your price range, esp as March is not high season. Both are members of Leading Hotels of the World (lhw.com) and you can often find specials on their website. Do ask about room size as with two peole, one of whom is 6 months pregnant, IMO you need at least 25 square meters, and 30 or more would be beter.

In Geneva, a very good hotel which has an indoor pool and is supposed to have a good spa is:

Mandarin Oriental du Rhone
Quai Turrettini 1
1201 Geneva
Telephone: +41 (22) 909 00 01
Facsimile: +41 (22) 909 07 17

I don’t think they have an indoor pool.

President Wilson has a spa but their swimming pool is outdoor.

Mandarin Oriental says they have "fitness", does't say spa.

Above both are in Geneva city center.

Crowne Plaza has 2 swimming pools, if I remember correctly one is indoor. But the location is near the airport (the city center is 10 minutes taxi ride though.)

La Reserve Geneve Hotel & Spa has a real spa (2000 m2 large as they say.) with a big indoor swimming pool. Its location is outside the city, at Genève-Bellevue on the lake shore. They also have one European and one Chinese restaurants.

All above are 5 star hotels. If the spa-indoor swimming pool is important for you, La Reserve seems the best choice though it is a bit outside the city. Their site is :
www.lareserve.ch

And Mandarin Oriental does not have a swimming pool but their fiteness center is very nice, I hear, including saunas dry & steam.
www.mandarinoriental.com

Thank you all so much for the great suggestions... Off to do some research based on these ideas and will let you know what we decide.. Watch this space! Lisa

Hi Lisa123,

Like Cicerone, I also prefer the towns of Montreux & Vevey to Geneva. In Montreux, try the legendary 5-star Montreux Palace (www.montreux-palace.ch), which is in your price range. It's part of the Raffles group.

You may want to keep in mind that Switzerland is not on the Euro; they use the Swiss Frank (chf). Most hotels also list prices in Euro for comparison.

s

Cicerone, Kappa and Swandav - Just to let you know that we've decided on staying in Montreux or Lausanne and now just have to choose btw the 3 hotels you recommended - all look wonderful and I'm hoping if I wait until closer to the time there'll be a special offer on for one of them. Also gives us 2 months to start saving..
Thanks again- very excited already, Lisa

Oh good... because I was going to post yet another vote for Montreux, Vevey, or Lausanne (in that order). They are all more or less 1-hour train ride form Geneva (airport and train station are connected so it's incredibly easy). Gorgeous towns along Lac Leman. They will be much more of the special treat you are looking for IMO. All walkable and with good restaurants.

www.montreux.ch
www.vevey.ch