View of Geneva’s jet d’eau on a weathery day in July 2007 (see a series of weather-changing shots taken from the Kempinski terrace in the space of an hour)

The first time I set foot in the Noga Hilton was in 1985. It was cold and gray: November is not Geneva’s best month. I was part of the Time magazine crew sent to cover the Reagan-Gorbachev summit, the meeting that was the beginning of the end of the Cold War. My job was not very exciting for a journalist, but I was told it was essential. I had to guard the table in the Noga Hilton restaurant that gave our photographers the best view in the city of the jet d’eau. The big American television networks had claimed the rooftop area. Between bouts of holding down the table I wrote about Nancy Reagan’s visit for People magazine and walked around Versoix, where some of the meetings were held, looking for local color to add to the Time files we sent to Paris and New York. The Noga Hilton remains linked in my mind to the wallpaper of history’s great journalism stories.

More recently, my impressions of the hotel have been that the hotel’s charm was fading to the point of being almost but not quite funky.

Last week I interviewed the new general manager, with the hotel now under the Kempinski label and a makeover nearly completed. I decided to piggyback the appointment with a late afternoon meeting with another businesswoman. The meeting with the manager was moved up and the second meeting moved back, so I suddenly found myself with one of those unplanned three hours in the middle of the day, too short to go anywhere useful, too long to fritter away. The weather kept changing.

I decided to become one of the new Kempinski’s local customers, sitting down to work in the lounge.  Here’s my verdict:

During the afternoon I was able to find a quiet, well-lit corner of the large lounge area where I could plug in my laptop and work, using the wifi network, which worked fine. The lounge was comfortably busy, a good backdrop for work because the noise level never bothered me. I could see plants in the courtyard and trees and a bit of the lake when I looked up. A good work space. The staff was pleasant and helpful.

It was mid-afternoon, an odd time for a meal, so I ordered a sandwich. I loved my club sandwich, which is something I never order except in hotels, and the French fries were excellent. My favourite touch was the mini Tabasco sauce bottle, cheerful on a wet day. These are the small, stolen pleasures during a work day that make life a bit more fun.

Then I went downstairs to meet my evening appointment at the reception. She was late so I opened my laptop – and failed to get the wifi back. Three people at the reception didn’t know what the problem might be, so I decided it was time to stop working online. My friend arrived and we headed upstairs to the bar. She said someone else had told her the new decor is cold, whereas I had found the lounge just the opposite. But the evening was early, the somewhat empty bar a bit stark and we decided to have drinks outside.

The terrace area is delightful, a mix of wood and aluminum that works. The view of the city is great. She had a glass of wine for SFr6, which is pretty good in the centre of Geneva, and I splurged on a more expensive Pouilly Fuissé, pleased that you can order it by the glass. We sat and watched several weather patterns in the space of a few minutes and continued to sit under our large white umbrella despite a ring of water on the floor outside our table. We agreed there were two negatives, some confusion on the part of the waiter, who seemed to be a trainee and did not know much about wine, and the birds. The waiter will presumably get more training. The bold pigeons and sparrows will need more than training and I will be interested to see what miracles Kempinski can perform to get them to leave guests alone.

The hotel needs a little more time to warm up and iron out small problems, but even with that proviso, I’ll be making more appointments to meet people there. It has parking, is just before the worst of the perpetual city centre traffic jam,  and I like the feel of the place. There’s also always that magic, endlessly changing view of the city’s waterspout.

You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.