Clean, Modern, Quiet, & Well-located

This was our second stay at the Cornavin in Geneva in a year. It is clean, modern, quiet, & well-located across from the main train station Gare Cornavin. On both visits, our bright & basic rooms faced the train station, but we never heard any noise as the windows are double paned & block all sound from outside. The reception desk was helpful. We'd stay again in a heartbeat for the convenience alone. In July 2005, we paid $152 for a standard double including continental breakfast.

Hotel Cornavin-clean and convenient

The Hotel Cornavin is across the street from the train station which is within walking distance of everything and next to the transportation hub. Its location is great. The place was clean and there is a complimentary breakfast every morning in their panoramic room on the 8th floor. The one downside is that the rooms are small - maybe half of what a US hotel room would be, but for a single person, it is fine. Best thing is wireless internet on the lobby floor for 20 CHF a stay.

A little overpriced

I stayed in a triple room for only one night. The hotel is literally across the street from the train station, which is extremely convenient.

The hotel is decorated in a very contemporary/modern style, but looks a little dated and worn. My room was quite spacious but dimly lit. The panoramic breakfast room on the 8th floor has a beautiful view overlooking the city. The breakfast was pretty standard for Switzerland - pastries, juice, milk, coffee, cold meats, boiled eggs. The huge clock that goes from the ground floor all the way to the 9th floor was pretty cool.

The walls did seem to be soundproofed, but you can't help but hear the trains. However, they didn't keep me up. The beds were very comfortable.

Overall, the stay was good, but I couldn't help feeling that it could have been a little bit better compared to other four star hotels.

Not great

I wouldn't recommend this hotel.

It is an OK 4* but the rooms are very small and the bathroom smells damp. The hotel lacks many amenities that others have, like room service and a restaurant. There is a breakfast area which is very nice as it has a view of the Alps.

The problems I had with this hotel are:

1. The staff are rude! On our second day the staff tried to check us out. We had a three night reservation and had only stayed one. It turned out to be a mistake on their part but we had to get documentation to prove that we had booked for the three nights.

2. As part of our booking we had a continental breakfast included. The breakfast bar only has a continental breakfast but on checking out (after the three nights) we were told that we had to pay for the full hot breakfast. We found this rude as well seeing as we only had cereal each day! Plus they don't have any hot food! So I have no idea why they tried to charge us for the "hot" breakfast.

Anyway, on checking out the staff also said that we had drank whisky, gin and champagne from the mini bar. We hadn't.

3. We were in Geneva to see the swiss alps and just generally sight see and usually there is someone in the hotel who can advise guests on tours or things to do. This hotel lacks this completely and when we asked at reception they seemed uninterested and were not willing to help.

Good things about the hotel.

1. It is centrally located and opposite the Cornavin train station.

2. The hotel is clean and the view from the rooms is very nice.

Overall though, I wouldn't recommend this hotel mainly because of the rude staff and small rooms.

Also, reconsider going to Geneva out of peak times as a LOT of things are closed in the winter.

Not bad

Very central location (right next to the train station), decent size room, comfy beds with down comforters, and an ok breakfast. I found the hotel staff to be unprofessional. I suggest that you confirm your room reservation at least 2-3 days before going.

It was different

We stayed hered 27 April 2004, for 2 nights. It was very hot in Geneva, the hotel was still on heating not air conditioning until May 1, so had to have windows propped open by curtains to get fresh air in. The door handle kept falling off the door as we opened to leave the room. Bed was different, reading lights not worth using, on the whole, hotel was clean, linen was fresh everyday, bathroom good, we had a bath with a shower in it. Breakfast was not bad, otherwise it was very hard to get a good meal in Geneva, did find a place, the proprietor spoke english as her brother lived in Sydney Australia, so she made us something that was not too bad

Check other options before booking

Requested a non smoking room but was given a rather small room that had a very strong smell of tobaco smoke. We approached reception and was told, that because they were full (questionable), there was no other rooms available but they would spray the room with a chemical. This worked for a short period but soon wore off and we were resigned to opening the window to get some sort of fresh air. Unfortunately the railway station is along side the hotel and the rather loud noise from trains etc made this not a good option. The bathrooms are tiny with a shower cubicle and no bath tub. Only a very small amount of shampoo is supplied which would hardly be enough to wash a babies hair. Overall not really recommended.

Check all other hotels first before you stay here

I just finished a 10 night stay at the Cornavin - not a choice I made.

I was in Geneva for a major trade show, and was forced into a 10 day minimum stay (not the hotel's doing). Before I even start on the hotel, let me just quickly mention - and this is strictly a personal opinion - that anyone wavering on whether or not to visit Geneva should pick other locations. Zurich and Lugano are two beautfiul cities in SZ. I've traveled a lot in Europe over the last 20 years and Geneva really is in the bottom tier of cities I'd ever want to go back to. It is very expensive ($10 for a whopper combo, just as a benchmark). For the hotel, the only positive comment I can make is it is well located. It is next to the main train station, and since my room overlooked the tracks, I can say the room is pretty well soundproofed. I'm pretty sensitive to noise and I wasn't woken-up or kept up due to train traffic. The hallways are a different story, but that is the case at most hotels. Ok, because I was there during a very prime time, the room rates were definately jacked up. I paid $420/night while the going rate normally might be half that. So my comments are based more on the regular rate, as there is no way on earth that my room was even close to being worth 420/night. Yes, some rooms are normal (American) sized.

My room wasn't one of them. Most rooms facing the train station are small - very small. The shower stall is quite small as well. My bed was closer to a futon in the sense I was so low to the ground - not very comfortable. There was only one chair in the room and that was not too comfortable at all. The TV was perched high on the wall which would have left me with a stiff neck had I watched more tv. One thing which really left me cold was the staff - they were very cold. I can honestly say that nobody ever smiled or greated me (or the three others men I was traveling with). When I checked out, after spending over $4000 at their hotel, all the front desk clerk could tell me is, "Ok, you are checked out." The breakfast buffet isn't worth the 18 SFR they charge.

Go across the street to the station and pick up food their. I found no restaurant that I could honestly recommend. And, should anyone reading this be going to Geneva for their first time, like the rest of Europe, everyone seems to smoke and they can do it everywhere! But for the hotel, being a 4 star, I expected so much more, and this place didn't deliver in any way, shape or form.

Nice experience

I stayed at the Cornavin hotel for a week in July 2003. There are many nice things about the hotel. First of all, the price is very reasonable compared to the level of service. The rooms are spacious and if you got a room on the 7, 8 or 9th floor, you will get a room with a huge window and balcony giving you a nice view over the busy street and walking people around the railway station and you can also see the upper part of the lake fountain. The décor and furniture is new and stylish. Comfy beds and nice toilets.I plan to stay there in my next trip to Geneva.

Not quite what we expected

We had heard impressive things about the cornavin hotel and arrived to find ourselves somewhat disappointed. The hotel is located adjacent to the railway station- a good location but be aware it is noisy. Also the staff were not always that helpful...we had specifically requested non smoking rooms but were given smoking rooms. They told us the hotel was full so would not move us. The room smelt and although the decor was ok.. it is not what i would normally expect from a 4 star hotel at 100 pounds per night. Overall we were rather disappointed. I think it is fair to say that Geneva is an expensive city and it would be helpful to be able to compare Cornavin with other hotels in the area