Arrived in the afternoon, received no greeting or a even smile or a simpel welcome. The reception is in the cellar (very aqward!). Had to wait in line in order to check in. Grumpy reception staff! Didn't find my reservation at first, had to wait a couple of minutes until she was able to locate it.

Had booked a double superior room, received a shabby room on the second floor. The room was smallish, so was the 19" wallmounted LCD-tv. The room had depressing concrete walls, and the bathroom was very basic too. I did expect more from a Novotel, cause this really felt like an average Ibis property. Especially when paying a good amount of money for the room.

Left the next day, and the receptionist had to remove a couple of items from my bill, ex two breakfast, which I did not have!

It's centrally located, close to the main train station, in an arabic (?) neightbourhood of Geneva. I felt that this Novotel was not worth the money I paid, the room were depressing and smallish and very simple and basic, the warmth of the staff were absent, the level of service was very low, and I was not greeted by the staff at a single occasion. I will not return to this hotel! VERY DISSAPPOINTING!

Next time I visit Geneva I would rather stay right next to the river, which is beautiful.

Firstly the positives; great location, for Geneva reasonable rates, rooms are of a good standard clean big enough and comfortable. I booked this hotel from their website, the claims on the site don’t stack up. They are neither family friendly all around the world they claimed, not in Geneva.

This review is for families considering staying in Geneva. You will find many Manotel hotels on this site which are in just as good position as the Novotel. Once it became obvious the we would regret staying at the novotel we toured nearby hotels to plan a move. The Manotel hotels where all very well presented and the staff at each location showed us a room without any dramas.

From the moment we walked in the door and were confronted with a stack of stairs to get down to the reception things were going bad. I my wife and our 9 month old baby not so fresh after a long train trip stood atop the stairs thinking we must have missed the lift, not to be. Needless to say 4 hotel staff sat behind the reception desk and didn't even for a moment give any consideration to offering us any assistance. Now it’s not uncommon to have stairs down to reception and then lifts further inside.

The prized novotel entertainment system seemed great till half way through a movie when it failed. We were told we would not be charge but we were on the final account and had to ask again for it to be removed. In one of the rooms we stayed in the entertainment menu system didn’t work at all and in another room the picture was black and white at times. I don’t know it business people don’t watch TV but families do.

Everything was an effort for the staff, the rooms and not family friendly and their internet sites says they are either. Don't be fooled by the Novotel family friend stuff. They were not friendly to us at all.

The staff made my wife and daughter (9 months old) sit in the lobby and feed in a high chair as they firstly refused to provide a high chair in the room and secondly refuse to allow them to sit in the restaurant.

Finally it came to check-out time and Novotel attempted to overcharge us by approx 600 CHF. Overcharged the number of nights stayed, charged for mini-bar, charge for movies. Now obviously you should always check you bill, but there was such an obvious. The receptionist said no this is right, after i had convinced her to remove around 300 CHF she said this is right, I said no it isn't, in the end i paid the account for what I thought was still a wrong amount but what can you do when you have a train to catch. The receptionist at first refused to give me my AMEX back and then said I will charge your card for more even without it then.

Might I say that at no point did any member of the management staff get involved despite me spending some 20 mins checking out and discussing the very wrong account with one of the staff members.

Once at the train station I called the manager of the hotel to inform him of what took place, he insisted that he could not take a complaint from me without my full name and room number. I suggested if he attended to his guests he would already be aware of the serious nature of my concerns.

If you are planning on passing though Geneva do so on the weekend when the hotel rates are dirt cheap for example $185 CHF vs $520 CHF mid week book online and save.

Don't reward the Novotel Geneva for their lack of family friendliness.

The room was very clean and modern. The food in the restaurant is good, however the service was lacking somewhat. Location wise, the hotel is very handy to the main train station however the area immediately around the hotel is not the nicest. A solid bet for a good nights sleep and breakfast.

Just spent a night here and was quite impressed. Modern, clean, quiet hotel located optimally in Geneva. Close to the train station and within walking distance of many things in Geneva. If not, you receive a free public transport pass with your check-in anyway so all bases are covered. Further, free wLAN on the reception floor and free ethernet in the room. Large rooms, huge bed, separate toiket and bath, plus bath has both a tub and shower stall. Very nice! One downside is that the place really isn't that attractive from the outside. This is a minor quibble but I guess that's the point of writing a review. There are more historic and modern looking hotels in town. Nevertheless, feel free to go ahead and book this place. Great location.

P.S. I stayed while the Auto Show was going on. Was pleasantly surprised to come to breakfast and have 25 or so "models" who were working at the show as a backdrop. This brings bonus points!