Beau Rivage Palace, Lausanne

Most Famous Guests: Victor Hugo, Charlie Chaplin, Coco Chanel.

The 5 star Beau Rivage Palace sits in 10 acres of its own private gardens on the shores of Lake Geneva, Lausanne, and has stunning views across the lake and of the French Alps beyond.

The hotel itself, including its spacious and elegant rooms and suites, is equally stunning and the entire experience is one which will satisfy even the most discerning of luxury hotel aficionados. It has four restaurants to choose from all of which are excellent quality but with one particularly stealing the show; the 2 Michelin starred Anne-Sophie Pic at Beau-Rivage Palace.

Add to that some chic bars and lounges, some very opulent Cinq Mondes spa facilities, tennis courts, swimming pools, hot tubs, and from beginning to end extremely high levels of service, and it becomes easy to understand why Beau Rivage Palace is one of Switzerland’s very best luxury hotel resorts.

It is also a place of great historical and political importance with, on 24 July 1923, the Treaty of Lausanne being signed here and, in April 2015, negotiations on the Iran nuclear deal framework taking place with foreign ministers from Iran, the U.S.A. and the European Union amongst others.

THE ACCOMMODATION:

They have 168 rooms to choose from including 34 top of the range suites, all of which are as spacious and luxurious as you would expect from such a hotel. Check your options on the booking page here.

The accommodation is spread over two buildings, the original hotel, built back in 1861, and the slightly newer (1908) Palace building. The accommodation in both buildings don’t stray much from their Belle Epoque era origins, with plush fabrics, patterned walls, prime mahogany furniture, soothing colours and careful lighting. The bathrooms are a definite highlight too, they come with jacuzzi-baths and a nice range of Cinq Mondes bath products.

As you will see on the booking page, they have all either a Lake View or a Garden View. The peaceful 10 acres of private gardens are certainly lovely to look down upon but the slightly extra premium for a lake view is worth it. The views of Lake Geneva are really gorgeous, especially in the pale of an evening, and all the rooms (both garden and lake view) have a least a small balcony.

The common areas are many and display a great deal of old fashioned opulence and ambience. There are four restaurants here and you can choose from brasserie style at Café Beau-Rivage, sushi at the Miyako Lausanne, Italian at L’Accademia (which is in a separate building and has a very nice outdoor terrace) and finally superb fine dining at the most illustrious of all; the two Michelin starred Anne-Sophie Pic at Beau-Rivage Palace.

For drinks, including some very exquisite cocktails, you can choose between the relatively contemporary Lobby Bar and the more retro, simply titled, BAR. And not forgetting to mention the wine; the Beau Rivage has one of the largest wine collections in Europe, with something in the region of 75,000 bottles.

Beau Rivage Palace is also a Cinq Mondes spa resort and so you can expect the best in wellness facilities with a huge range of health and beauty treatments (including a resident hair stylist), fitness rooms and fitness classes including yoga, indoor and outdoor swimming pools, hot tubs and two tennis courts.

The service throughout the hotel is impeccable without being too precious or overly formal, the staff seem to be superbly trained  and a real atmosphere of relaxation and indulgence is nurtured.

THE LOCATION:

Just 40 minutes from Geneva the picture-perfect city of Lausanne has been attracting well heeled tourists for decades now. It is smaller than Geneva and less business like, though the International Olympic Committee, amongst others, has its headquarters here.

The old city centre is the hilltop medieval Cité, which has some gorgeous old buildings, pretty cobbled streets and squares, the 12th century Cathedral of Notre Dame, an atmospheric wooden walkway, the 13th century era Escaliers du Marché, linking the old town’s two markets and the old fountain at its heart, the Fontaine de la Justice, with a mechanical clock statue beside which, every hour, springs to life with a parade of figurines representing episodes and characters in the canton of Vaud’s history. The old city has fine restaurants, cafes and bars too as well as some high end shopping, especially along the famous Rue de Bourg.

Moving down from La Cité there is of course the shores of Lake Geneva, or Lac Léman as it is known to locals, which rivals the old city for visitor’s attention. There you will find a long walkway around the shore, beach areas and a whole host of bars, cafes and restaurants. Lake tours are of course popular here, with everything from paddle boats to yachts and eco-friendly solar powered cruisers, and with Beau Rivage Palace themselves doing their own private boat tours.

The hotel itself has one of the most scenic spots on the lake shore at Ouchy, a little bit away from the old city but no more than 5 or ten minutes by metro (Ouchy Station) and outside its 10 acres of peaceful gardens is surrounded by some excellent options for dining, drinking and shopping.

Lausanne is well connected to other cities in Switzerland, none more so than Geneva which is a very scenic 40 minute drive, or train ride, around the lake. The journey from Berne and Zürich, will take around one and two hours respectively, again equally by direct train or by car. Transfers by car can be arranged by the hotel from various points around the country and also from its main airports.

WHAT OTHER GUESTS SAY:

“The property is a Castle. I felt like a Princess. Breakfast is amazing they have everything literally. Everything! Delicious. Decoration impeccable, works of art everywhere, bed linen and towels smell like heaven and they are so soft. The bed feels like sleeping above the clouds. Gym also amazing, pool, sauna, everything is like a vision of paradise. The feet treatment in the SPA makes you born again. All the delicious smells and scents..sitting in the room balcony at night to watch the stars and have the room service is another unforgettable experience, view to the garden with little statues like Rodin..the place is a different dimension. Paradise in Switzerland! An exclusive world apart of tranquil and intense experiences. It is my Best Swiss experience so far. Number 1. The one and Only!..”

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Location Category:

Castle Hotels in Switzerland