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Atel Windsor

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  • 31 Rue de Berne
     Geneva, Switzerland
    +41-22-715-1600Website
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girlfromals
girlfromals
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Atel Windsor

  • December 31, 2006
  • Rated 1 of 5 by girlfromals from Ottawa, Ontario
Atel Windsor

Never have I had an experience requiring a negative review. That is until now. Working at a non-profit organization we’re conscious of costs. So when the usual moderately-priced hotel used by our organization in Geneva was unavailable we trusted a recommendation. Everyone was pleased with the central location and the price point (120 Swiss francs) until we took a look at reviews on the web. We knew we were going to have a problem.

We checked in upon arrival in Geneva on a Wednesday morning. The lobby looked just fine but that must be where the owners spent all of their money. A colleague of mine did not even make it up to the elevator. She got that far and turned around saying she was not going to stay there.

Hotel Windsor advertises itself as a first-rate, three-star hotel but it provides nothing of the sort. The rooms are small, dirty and house broken furniture. The bathroom was very cramped and some of the tiles and grout were falling out. The shower grout was sprouting mildew. The walls are paper thin and I heard my neighbours coughing lightly. There are no non-smoking rooms. The owner said he did not care whether the patrons smoked in the rooms. Well, some of the patrons might mind!

This hotel advertises itself as suitable for the business traveler. There was no Internet access, no business centre and no desk on which to work. The furniture that was provided was actually falling apart. The chair in my room had a split seat that had separated from the chair base. There was no alarm clock and no instructions on how to get a wake-up call by using the phone.

Continental breakfast, served from 7am to 10 am, is included in the price of the room. While I do not need a big spread for breakfast I appreciate a balanced meal. Breakfast consisted of bread and jam and a choice of cold cereals with milk. We also had our choice of coffee or tea. There was no protein, either cheese or meat, and no fruit provided. Definitely not a great start to the day.

Luckily our stay was to be short-lived. The day we checked in we talked with the head of Canada’s delegation. She contacted the Canadian mission to the U.N. and they found us hotel rooms in a much better hotel. After breakfast we headed over to the Royal Manotel to check in. We then headed back to the Hotel Windsor, packed up and checked out. I was never so happy to leave a hotel.

If you need a centrally-located hotel at a moderate price, I would recommend the family-run Hotel Montana. My colleague who refused to stay at the Hotel Windsor usually stays at the Montana and checked in there instead. Another option is the Hotel Drake which can be booked, apparently, for about 100 Swiss francs if you book a few months in advance.

From journal Working the U.N. in Geneva

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