HotelDomaine de Châteauvieux

82 out of 100 (1 Source)

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ProfMagellan (54)

90%

very good

[ProfMagellan, 29.05.2008] We first visited this hotel about ten years ago. Then it was simple and rustic.
As the legend of M. Chevrier's cooking grows around the world, so has he invested in the rooms and today, although not quite luxurious, they are very comfortable indeed. It is located in Peney-Dessus, a tiny village just ten minutes drive from Geneva Airport so a good alternative to staying in Geneva itself. The food is exquisite.

80/100

Room [more][less]
70/100

Size
100/100

Cleanliness

The room was a reasonable size overlooking the courtyard and the small grocery shop (a river view cost more). Very quiet indeed.
Good bed, reasonable drawer space and adequate lighting. A state of the art Sony flat screen TV which was easy to operate and picked up English channels was a plus. The wi-fi system was a disaster area. It took a full two hours to log on
includng two visits from reception, several phone calls and a ludicrously complex pasword system. They should fix it now. At least it was included in the room rate.
Bathroom was ok although the WC was a little excietable. The unguents were the Relais et Chateaux no brand variety which was a pity. Molton Brown etc would have been preferable. Bathroom lighting was very stark and needs re-working.
No newspaper offered.
59/100

General hotel amenities [more][less]
50/100

Appearance/Architecture
40/100

Lobby Atmosphere

This is really a restaurant with rooms so do not expect a beautiful lobby and all the trimmings. Everything is in good order and it is clearly well maintained.
The receptionist was rather hostile. She should be an internal auditor or work for the driving licence people or some such. She is wasted in a service business.
When we last visited in 2006, the receptionist was horrid too. I cannot understand why M. Chevrier cannot find receptionists who smile and are nice. This one was Rosa Klebb's granddaughter, The porterage was fine. The bar was very inefficient,
slow and lacklustre. The service at dinner was correct but not overly friendly and a bit slow. The food was sublime but the equipe needs more elan to compete at the top level. Two stars in Michelin means you are competing at an international level. Not much in the way of facilities; but a nice rural location with a good garden.
92/100

Food & Beverages [more][less]
100/100

Food Variety
100/100

Food Quality

Philippe Chevrier is one of the best known cooks in Switzerland and rightly so. He cooks like a dream and he was much in evidence unlike some of his Brtish equivalents who seem keener on appearing on TV than doing what the punters are paying them to do. Dinner was fabulous and the Swiss wines really excellent.
A nice restaurant room too, rustic and relaxing. No sign of the hornets that disrupted our last dinner here. The serce was ok just. I found the equipe a bit standoffish and rather slow. Abandoning us in the bar having slapped down a couple of menus was not a great way to start and getting our puddings the wrong way round was a disgrace (when you are charging over £20 for a pudding). This equipe should visit the Square in London to see what world class service is all about. A shame because the food is quite sensational.
54/100

Location and surroundings [more][less]
80/100

Landscape/Scenery
30/100

Transportation Connection

Peney-Dessus is a tiny village. So if you want nightlife forget it. But you do get a good night's sleep in this pretty wine growing area near Satigny on the French border. It is not all rural as you can see some of the factories and new housing growing up around greater Geneva. It seems more built up than on our first visit in 1997. It is quite hard to find (the hotel map is useless) but less than half an hour from central Geneva where there is good shopping.