Nice but cheap hotel in Geneva for one / two nights?

[KosmoKramer]

I'm going to a week-long conference with my children at Caux Palace (two hours away from Geneva) during the summer holidays.

I'm thinking about going out a few days earlier and exploring. Anyone have any recommendations of cheap and cheerful place to stay? Does such as place exist in Geneva? So excited!

Personally I would stay in Lausanne instead. We spent a week there last summer and loved it. It's smaller than Geneva but has good public transport links and if the weather turns the Olympics Museum is a good way to spend several hours.

Thank you Use! I will go and check out that area now. How far outside Geneva is it?

Takes just under an hour on the train - it's half way between Geneva and Montreux, right on the lake.

Look at the transport ticket options for the area. I can't remember what we got now but it saved a lot of money. Lausanne has a small tram type network which is free with a card that most, if not all, the hotels give you when you get there. The ticket we got also covered us for the ferries on the Lake.

Definitely recommend it but be aware that it was hideously expensive!

Yes, I will have to take some time to plan everything properly. I was only granted the funding this morning and have had to book everything really quickly. However, I'll start to research the transportation seriously as from tomorrow. Student stipends are not glamourous!!

Thanks so much for your help.

And yes, I have noticed the cost of the hotels!! Very expensive! The conference cost for all three of us at Caux Palace is costing me only £320 full board. after the Uni pay my costs. Perhaps I need to just go straight there and use that as my base. There are plenty of sightseeing opportunities built in to the programme.

I think I'm punching above my weight with Geneva hotels :)

Take a look at air bnb. We stayed in a little apartment in Pully that actually suited us better than a hotel (DC were then 2 and 5).

Or hostels? Otherwise Vevey Hotel & Guesthouse (pretty much a hostel) can be reasonable. And you'll get a Riviera Card which is basically free transport in the area.

We've recently moved to this area so happy to answe questions.

From experience nothing is inexpensive in Switzerland! But it is beautiful x

There is NOTHING cheap in Geneva. As Skincare said, try Air BnB instead otherwise you will be very unimpressed with the shitty hotels charging hundreds of £ a night.

Just for reference, a Starbucks coffee costs the equivalent of something like £5! Expensive city but absolutely beautiful. I'd move there in a heartbeat except my boyfriend who lived there broke up with me

Yup I'd go with airbnb too. You might be able to just rent a room in a flat which would be even cheaper than hiring the whole place. Eg this flat is £64 per night, looks good. Just go with a highly rated place and you'll be fine, best way to experience a city!

It can be expensive, yes, but don't let it put you off. You could have a lovely couple of days doing free/cheap activities: walks round the lake where there's lots of parks and playgrounds, plus in the summer you could swim in the lake or there are public lidos which are cheap and a lovely way to spend a sunny afternoon.

Oh thank you for your replies. I've ended up changing my flight times, so we fly early evening and land at around 9pm. We are staying at an Aparthotel at the Airport then making our way to Caux Palace the next day.

Luckily, my conference at Caux is fully inclusive and so we won't have to worry about meal costs.

I am so excited!

Enjoy, it's beautiful here☀️