Our Five Star Ritz-Carlton Experience At Hotel De La Paix Geneva

Our First Ritz-Carlton Booking

On our 6 week Central Europe trip we stayed in 13 different hotels. The hotels ranged from small local boutique hotels in tiny Czech Republic towns to large chain hotels in the suburbs of major cities. Six of the hotels were booked as part of our first Overseas Adventure Travel (OAT) travel from Prague to Budapest. The other hotels were booked to meet our 2018 hotel loyalty rewards objectives. Most of the hotel experiences were generally as expected with a few small surprises. But nobody came close to delivering the customer service excellence we got on our five star Ritz-Carlton experience at Hotel De La Paix Geneva.

We experienced great customer service excellence when we stayed at Intercontinental Hotels. Our travel with other five star brands has reinforced the key things that drive customer satisfaction. Our five star Ritz-Carlton experience may have spoiled us for life!

Geneva Switzerland was the last stop on our visit to Switzerland. And our second last stop on our Central Europe trip before we headed to Milan. Since we were building nights that would ultimately be put into our Marriott loyalty numbers, we looked at the Ritz-Carlton in Geneva. We had made some compromises in accommodations on some stops along the way. Our five star Ritz-Carlton experience at Hotel De La Paix Geneva would be our treat to ourselves. And once we got there, we never wanted to leave.

Where Everybody Knows Your Name And Preferences

We arrived in Geneva by train. It was a short and easy walk to the Ritz-Carlton Hotel De La Paix. As soon as the doorman saw us coming his way, he moved to get the bags. He asked for our names. While the doorman brought our bags up, I went to reception and was greeted by name. Did the doorman have some kind of whisper microphone to pass on our names? Did my email in advance of arrival have them waiting for us? Or did they know it was us some other way?

But we never had to state our name or room number on our visit. Staff seemed to know who we were. I think that ones who knew our name discretely passed it on to whoever was dealing with us. Or said hello by name loud enough.

During the check-in process, David made an offhand comment about his love of chocolate. No sooner had he made this comment, when a giant box of chocolates appeared for us to make a selection. We also got a lovely box of local artisanal chocolates to welcome us to our room! We were not really surprised to find there was a great custom chocolate shop just off the lobby.

Our five star Ritz Carlton experience at Hotel De La Paix Geneva was an intensely personal visit through the whole stay!

Service – With And Without Asking

The room we booked was waiting for us when we arrived. We asked about an upgrade and said we would wait to check-in if there was an upgrade available. Our request was taken with a smile and after a few clicks of the keyboard, we were told an upgraded room would be available in 30 minutes. We were taken to the Living Room Restaurant and served cappuccinos and chocolates while we waited. These never showed up on our hotel bill. Such a classy and welcome way to handle a short delay.

Carmen walked us to our room. We were delighted to find that we had been upgraded to a high floor overlooking Lake Geneva. A short walk around the room showed us everything we needed to know. Carmen gave us lots of tips about things we should see and do on our stay in Geneva. She always checked in to see what we had seen on our day in Geneva.

Housekeeping staff were trained to be observant. When they saw we drank more water and coffee than the regular daily supply, double portions showed up. The room had a desk. But it also had a full set of desk supplies – paper, stickies, a stapler and a highlighter!

We called down for an extra sheet for the bed. We can never understand the European practice of not using a top sheet. When we commented that the extra sheet was because we got hot at night, someone was sent to look at the thermostat. The set point was lowered so we could get it colder. At every interaction with staff, it was clear that they listened and proactively identified our next needs.

Every night there was turndown service. It included a full refresh of linens, towels and supplies. And of course we got more chocolates! When we stay at hotels, we generally will choose the green option and not have our room serviced for our short stays. This was never an option on our five star Ritz-Carlton experience at Hotel De La Paix Geneva. They wanted us to feel pampered at every moment in our room.

Special Personalized Experiences

When we looked at services available at the hotel, we were delighted to find that they offered a wine and chocolate pairing. Of course we made sure to book that for our first day. It was the perfect start to our five star Ritz-Carlton experience at Hotel De La Paix Geneva!

We were the only ones doing it that day so we got fully personalized attention. There were 3 chocolates, one white wine and two red wines for the pairing. When David said he preferred sweet white wines, he immediately was given a glass of that. It was so good he had it again when we went for dinner at the hotel.

We love to do wine pairings. It is always interesting to see how the wine and what is paired with it changes the enjoyment of both the wine and the pairing. On our visit to Porto, Portugal we did a port wine tasting paired with chocolate. Such a perfect mix!

A floral white wine was paired with a jasmine chocolate. This was a yummy pairing. The light Pinot Noir red was paired with a saffron chocolate. Neither of us liked the saffron chocolate but both of us liked the Pinot Noir. The final pairing was a heavier Humagne Rouge red wine with a basil chocolate. It was an interesting pairing.

The other special service we wanted to try was Afternoon Tea. We have done Afternoon Tea around the world. Our last Afternoon Tea treat was at the St Regis when we visited Washington DC. The hotel did not have a regular Afternoon Tea seating. But with 24 hours notice they would put on a full Afternoon Tea experience tailored to you. We were so busy on our visit to Geneva that we never got to experience Afternoon Tea. It will stay on the list for our next visit.

Specialized personalized experiences added to the pampering on our five star Ritz-Carlton experience at Hotel De La Paix Geneva!

The Inside Of The Hotel Was Stunning

Everywhere we went in the hotel, we found style and elegance. The lobby was large with the most beautiful chandelier that went up into the open atrium.

The lobby area had an interesting living art piece called Twenty-One (by Alexandre Joy). It looked three dimensional and seemed to shimmer.

One day we wandered up through the floors of the open atrium and discovered a fascinating portrait gallery. The tapestry portraits celebrate the historical figures who played a role in attaining peace. This includes depictions of Giuseppe Garibaldi, Victor Hugo, Marie Carnot and others. The hotel was a favourite of Grace Kelly and there is a portrait of her along with a suite named after her.

The elegance of this hotel was a great part of the five star Ritz-Carlton experience at Hotel De La Paix Geneva!

Great Options To Eat At The Hotel

We have had mixed success with hotel restaurants. On our travels from Prague to Budapest we missed access to fresh seafood. When we heard that the Fiske Bar Restaurant in the hotel had both seafood and unique food dishes, we decided to eat at the hotel our first night.

My dinner started with a great salad of mixed colours, textures and flavours. David had a tasty smoked sardine dish with fermented asparagus and roasted beet. For my main I had beef and David had octopus. All dishes had unique flavours and were creatively plated.

Of course there was chocolate mousse for dessert. But that too was interesting. It came served on an iced stone platter covered with garlic gelato and served with small cubes of liquorice jellies. All of David’s favourite flavours on one dish!

We also ate at the less formal Living Room Restaurant a couple of times during our stay. We missed having the big breakfast buffet that they put on. But it was a comfortable place to sit for a cappuccino or for a light breakfast.

The service we got was impeccable throughout every restaurant experience we had at the hotel. It was clear that the service attitude we saw on our five star Ritz-Carlton experience at Hotel De La Paix Geneva permeated every part of the operations.

The View From Our Room Was Stunning

We really liked Geneva. We had so many day trips planned. But ultimately we stayed close to the city. Our mornings started with a golden sunrise. We wandered around Geneva for the day. And then returned home late in the afternoon to enjoy our great space at the Ritz-Carlton. It was great to finish our day as we sat on the patio with a drink.

The sun set. And then the lights came onto the scene in front of us. We watched the Jet D’Eau as it changed colour. And marvelled at the colourful reflections in Lake Geneva.

Every aspect of our five star Ritz-Carlton experience at Hotel De La Paix Geneva was magical. It was no wonder we never wanted to leave.

We Loved Our Five Star Ritz-Carlton Experience At Hotel De La Paix Geneva

Our five star Ritz-Carlton experience at Hotel De La Paix Geneva was a delightful way to enjoy our stop in Geneva and to finish our stay in Switzerland. It will certainly not be our last Ritz-Carlton stay this year. On our trip to China in the fall, we are staying in the Ritz-Carlton Beijing hotel – twice! We are excitedly looking at the schedule on the new Ritz-Carlton yacht. That is on our travel wish list for 2020!

What did you think of our five star Ritz-Carlton experience at Hotel De La Paix Geneva? What could have made it more memorable?

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