Asuka N.
Yelp
We stayed at the Grand Hotel Kempinski for our couple of nights in Geneva at the beginning of our vacation through Switzerland last month. The location of the hotel is definitely hard to beat - it is right across the street from Lac Leman and close to the heart of central Geneva - making it an attractive spot to stay at. That said, hotel itself is not that tall, making unobstructed lake views really only available on the top floors. We booked a 'partial' lake view, which I felt we got a bit hipped on - our room ended up being a corner room on the lowest floor that had rooms, meaning we saw a bare sliver of the lake from our room and nothing more. Although we could not check in as early as we wanted to, we still were able to get in a couple hours early, and the hotel was kind enough to hold our bags at the front in the interim. The parking lot entrance is a side street, and like many a parking space in Europe, it's a bit tight and can require a bit of maneuvering to ensure your car is in place. That said, for CHF 35/day to have in-out privileges, it is one of the few things in Switzerland to be priced around where it might be in a similar big city elsewhere.
Our room itself was generally in good shape, although electric plugs were a bit sparser than I would have preferred. The bathroom amenities felt a bit cheap - despite being branded as Ferragamo, shampoo and the like are definitely not their core competencies, and it seemed like they stuck their name on what could easily be standard mid-level hotel amenities from a quality standpoint. Cleanup service was always good, and I appreciated that the turndown always included water along with a piece of Faverger chocolate (which was quite good). However, the housekeepers, particularly for turndown, are quite aggressive and practically barge in if you do not respond immediately...so I would highly recommend an active use of the 'Do Not Disturb' sign whenever you are in-room in the afternoon.
We didn't check out too much of the other hotel amenities aside from the gym, which was reasonable - a good selection of machines and free weights, although I would have appreciated a lat pulldown / pull-up bar of some kind. The 2nd-floor lounge/restaurants looked relaxing, but again with lake views that weren't really all that ideal. There is also an 'urban lawn' that seems to resemble what an outdoors pool area would be like...but on artificial turf and minus the pool...without a view, it seems like a bit of a wasted space.
Given the price here (like all things in Switzerland, but even more so here), I would probably survey other options nearby to see if I could get a better deal. That said, the room was decently-sized, the hotel has great location and has most amenities one would need - so it's hard to complain too much. Nonetheless, as a 5-star hotel (according to various online websites), it felt a tad worn and not quite up to the level I would expect of a luxury-rated (and priced) hotel.