Queen of Retreats reviewer Andy Whiteside tells us about Four Seasons Geneva
Four Seasons’ lakeside Hotel Des Berges is set at the point where Lake Geneva empties into the Rhone and has sweeping views of Jet d’Eau, the old town and on a clear day, Mont Blanc – the tallest mountain in the Alps. Built in 1834 as the first hotel in the city, it’s a great place for a cosseting spa weekend with an instantly calming rooftop Spa Mont Blanc, two restaurants and intuitive service.
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Taking its inspiration from its natural surroundings, the spa has a good steam room, hot and cold shower experiences, and a small but beautiful infinity pool with an adjacent Jacuzzi. Changing rooms are luxurious dark marble affairs, and the menu offers both signature and locally inspired face and body therapies from ESPA, Swiss Perfection and Biologique Recherche. This is a can-do spa with caring and skilled therapists – signature facials genuinely reduce puffiness, fine lines and improve skin tone, and staff include a qualified osteopath for anyone with any nagging aches and pains.
Stay in one of the 6th floor contemporary ‘loft’ rooms on the same level as the spa which come come with working fireplaces (great for a post massage curl up and snooze) and oversized bathrooms with huge walk-in rainfall showers that at a press of a button transform into a hamman complete with seating for two – a lovely way to prepare for a treatment in the privacy of your own room.
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For dining choose from the elegant Il Lago for Northern Italian fare or the more intimate Izumi for Japanese-Peruvian fusion meals where you can sit by a warming fire and indulge in a memorable Menu Degustation with the likes of sea bass sashimi with yazu juice, lobster and baby spinach salad, Wagu beef with seasonal vegetables and deserts such as coffee cappuccino cup topped with a whiskey foam and an obscenely moreish cheesecake. Yum.
Make sure you book a hotel airport transfer – it’s the same price as a local taxi but you’ll be greeted at arrivals and whisked to the hotel in around 20 minutes. Rooms from 750 Swiss Francs per night, treatments from 175 Swiss Francs, More information: fourseasons.com.
Words by Caroline Sylger Jones & Andy Whiteside
For more wellness travel ideas check out Queen of Retreats. Queen of Retreats was founded by Caroline Sylger Jones, an author and freelance journalist who travels the world checking out spas, retreats and healthy holidays for international newspapers, glossy magazines and websites.
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