Geneva’s boutique Hotel d’Angleterre
is exotic, intimate and soignéby Lucy Komisar The stunning view from my window is of Switzerland’s Lake Geneva, its Jet d'Eau (a 460-foot-high fountain), and beyond the handsome office buildings on the opposite shore, Mont Blanc.
 
I am staying in the boutique Hotel d’Angleterre, which dates from 1872 – the façade is original -- and is one of the heritage sites of Geneva. Inside, the décor is exotic, reflecting the tastes of Beatrice Tollman, a South African who in 2001 bought the hotel with her husband, Stanley. I relax with a glass of wine in the Leopard Lounge, which with animal-skin design pillows and a wood-paneled wall lined with books, is more like a luxurious safari hunting lodge than a hotel bar & lounge. Some evenings, there is live jazz.  
 I spot art throughout the hotel. Returning to my room, I stop in the corridor to admire a pair of Egyptian obelisques. My cool blue bedroom has walls dotted with blue Wedgwood china, a desk with a pair of Wedgwood monkeys, a gold-handled bureau with mini obelisques and a chaise in the Wedgwood patterns. Many rooms have antiques.
 In the morning, I have a sumptuous breakfast in the quiet café and tea room overlooking the lake. It is an easy walk along the water and then across the foot and car bridge over the lake to the center of town. If I’d wanted more exercise, I could have repaired to the gym, then relaxed with a sauna and massage or aromatherapy.
The five-star Hotel d’Angleterre, which has 45 bedrooms, is one of the Tollmans’ Red Carnation Hotel Collection, which includes 12 hotels in London, Dorset, Florida and South Africa. Not surprisingly, the d’Angleterre is listed in the Leading Small Hotels of the World.  Its intimate size and discreet staff attention have attracted some particular guests, including (allegedly) about a hundred years, ago the mistress of the Belgian king and, more recently, singer Michael Jackson.
Hotel d'Angleterre,
Quai du Mont-Blanc 17,
1201 Geneva, Switzerland
Tel: 41 (0) 22 906 5555
www.dangleterrehotel.com  Part of the Red Carnation Hotel collection.
http://www.redcarnationhotels.com
Free wifi internet connection. Walking distance from train station. Photos by Lucy Komisar. | 