Four Seasons Hotel des Bergues Geneva

"It’s hard to imagine a more natural fit than Four Seasons and Geneva, which is why the Canadian chain’s renovation of the celebrated Hotel des Bergues on the banks of the Rhone just across Lac Leman from the Old Town and the Financial District is such an admirable kid-glove performance. Four Seasons knows exactly what the high-flying international exec needs to feel not only pampered but, just as importantly, empowered when on the road—charmingly bashful service that disguises a brass-tack attention to detail, go for broke convenience, a great location, a first-rate restaurant on the premises, and a top-drawer fitness facilities. The Hotel des Bergues, an old world charmer that was built in 1834, now offers all of the above, plus LCD flat-screen televisions with DVD players, in 103 rooms and suites with floor-to-ceiling windows and a quietly elegant Anglo-Franco townhouse decor—think almond green, Wedgewood blue, and terra cotta color schemes and toile de Jouy motifs—by Paris decorator Pierre Yves Rochon. Large well-lit marble bathrooms have double sinks, both baths and showers and swanky Aqua di Parma toiletries, and the small fifth-floor fitness center is open twenty-four hours a day. Il Lago, the stylish Italian reference has a terrific wine list and excellent food that offers a welcome alternative to the polite French cooking that defines dining here. The impeccable efficiency of this hotel happily stops short of creating a deadeningly corporate atmosphere, however, which is why it’s a perfect place to camp out before or after a ski-holiday in the surrounding Alps."