The Lausanne Palace And Spa

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The Lausanne Palace and Spa

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The Lausanne Palace and Spa

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You look wistfully down from Lausanne Palace and Spa, and long for someone to share your bottle By: Mary Gostelow

Yes, this is a very romantic place, but it is also big-business too. This is headquarter hotel for the Olympics, and regular meeting place for the Rich, Famous and Wannabe-both.

It only looks like five minutes' walk from Lausanne’s fabulous rail station

Lounge, with a tempting array of vegetarian pâtés and exotic juices. I

to Lausanne Palace and Spa, and it is tempting to think there is no

was escorted to an all-white cabine with lots of daylight, lay down for a

easier way to get here from Geneva’s Cointrin airport. Fast trains run

50-minute back and leg massage and promptly fell asleep during the

every ten minutes or so and take under an hour, speeding along the

whole rigmarole.

southern shore of Lac Léman. Arrive at Lausanne and the rail station is spotlessly clean. There are tempting aromas of fresh-baked bread from

The gym looks out over the lake – it has masses of the latest Technogym

the cafés within the complex. A good harpist is playing. Only five

equipment, and Pilates balls. Next came the pool, about 40 ft long, and

minutes’ walk, I deduced from the map, ahead of time. Ah ha, rue du

amply wide for three to swim laps at once. This was a delight as the

Petit-Chêne is cobblestoned, and at an angle of about 40 degrees, and

main long wall has two inset trompe l’oeil frescoes of crumbling Italian

it was a hot day in Lausanne. I had an extremely good aerobic workout,

villas (I am sure no ancient villa in Switzerland ever crumbled like this!).

therefore, by the time I arrived at the 146-room hotel, on stately rue du

Overhead, a wavy blue ceiling was inset with thousand of fiber optic

Grand-Chêne.

lights. And next, in this saga of keeping fit, came a visit to the ladies’ only spa, for the vitality pool, hammam and log cabin-look sauna.

A doorman in gray, with a scarlet peaked cap that matched the three carpeted entrance steps on which he stood, immediately took my bag,

Lausanne is all about keeping fit, by the way. There are at least 27

and escorted me into the lobby. To your left, facing ahead, is reception.

global sporting headquarters in the area, including the International

To your right is the conciergerie, which has a pile of satellited global

Olympic Committee IOC. Lausanne Palace is the official IOC hotel, and

newssheets on the desk (the British one is headlined ‘PM: we will change

delegations and meetings always use it: at the final presentation of the

the world’, yawn yawn). After checking in, I was given a chic chocolate-

2016 Olympics bids, all four final contenders were allocated the same

brown booklet with details of the hotel’s facilities, and escorted up to

number of rooms, the same meeting space (the nations all brought in at

Suite 401.

least 220 supporters so other hotels benefited too). Lausanne Palace and Spa, which dates back to 1915, has for the last 20 years been owned

Go into the suite and the toggle on your metal key, inserted into a

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by the Funke family. GM Jean-Jacques Gauer arrived in 1996, and he

funnel holder on the wall, activates power. You enter via a sizeable

has made it a really lively place. On November 6th, 2009, the

foyer, on to parlor, left to bedroom, back to bathroom. Both main

gastronomic Les Tables d’Hôtes re-opened, as an intimate 50-seat

rooms have French windows, allowing fresh air – the wrought iron

dining place with interactive kitchen. You also have the choice of

balcony outside is barely wide enough for a size-zero model – and the

eating, day and evening long, at the street-side Parisian-style Brasserie

bedroom has an additional four-foot oval window in its one curved

du Grand-Chêne, or traditional Japanese at Palace Sushi-Zen: in

corner. Carpeting throughout is long-life, looks like seagrass but is soft,

Summer you can dine on the terrace of Côté Jardin and on the bar front

mostly sandalwood with dark brown outline but parlor has inset ‘carpet’

you have Le Cellier, the Habana cigar bar, LP’s live-music bar, Red Club

with colors reversed. Walls everywhere are darker sandalwood plain

for night owls and La Grappa.

fabric. Woodwork is cream, as are full-length drapes. An eight-foot side table in the foyer holds two simple sand-colored pots, and a Nespresso

But, says our good friend Jean-Jacques Gauer, let’s go out for dinner,

machine. The parlor has simple, stark-lines dark wood furniture, slightly

namely down to the Ouchy area of Lausanne, by the lake. Here in

Arts & Craft Movement style: the big-box armoire has four big, square

December 2008, he and his team re-opened the incredibly trendy 50-

gold handles. The square table has four saffron-suede-seat dining chairs,

room Château d’Ouchy boutique hotel, modern-architecture

and cushions on the deep chocolate suede easy chairs and three-seat

magnificently juxtaposed into the existing 1604-vintage mini-castle.

sofa are saffron or deep chocolate. Three abstract watercolors above

First, a quick tour of the hotel, with medieval towers juxtaposed with

the sofa are, well, blobs of pastel colors on white. There is an eight-foot

modern glass-walled walkways and extensions, and two striking

tall dead tree in a wood pot, and a white vase holds a three-foot array

sculptures by Igor Ustinov, son of Peter. The casual dining room here is a

of white roses. A tall white orchid stands in front of the gilt-edged mirror

glass conservatory, with cream leather semi-circular bankettes and

above the decorative marble-mantel fireplace.

cream linens, and plain white Limoges. We drink local wines, a glass of

There is a back-to-back decorative fireplace in the bedroom, with an

Guido Brivio Dogaia 2006, a Merlot blend from Ticino. I also dine local,

abstract painting over. The bed is made up with all-natural fibers,

freshest tomatoes with buffalo mozzarella, followed by fritto misto of

white L’Yvorne Dme de l’Ovaille 2008 Deladoey & Fils and, for red,

according to a 12-inch tall clear Lucite tube, holding feathers, that

lake-caught fish. And oh the breads! They all come from Philippe

bears details of this healthy product: it has a six-foot tall dark wood

Rochat, who has three Michelin stars for Restaurant de l’Hôtel de Ville in

headboard, matching the bank of closet doors, which have the same

Crissier, which he took over from Fredy Girardet. Before driving back,

prominent gold handles as the armoire. The side table for the Phillips

we look at the Château d’Ouchy’s lovely outdoor pool and terrace, and I

television and iPod station, the low round table and the big desk, all

hear about its 35-ft 1928 slipper launch, sponsored by Blancpain.

match the other wood pieces. The desk has a broadband wire, and details for wireless connection (both are complimentary). The leather-

In the morning, I wake and look across at the lights of Evian (can I see

bound guide to services, which has clear opening hours, has information

Evian Royal Resort over there?). I take a run, down down the slope that

in Arabic, English, French, German and Russian: another leather binder

is Lausanne, all the way back down to the lake and, puff puff, up again

holds silk-smooth stationery, and A5-size Conqueror envelopes. Here we

(50 minutes round trip). I head for the Pilates ball in the gym, then

have another white orchid, and a foot-high pot of sunflower roses, and

shower, and breakfast in the inside room of Côte Jardin. Places are

here seating is covered in a fabric that has burgundy, seaweed and

attractively set with wood mats on the blue glass table tops. I enjoy the

saffron disk-shapes on cream. The main bathroom is all light cream

exquisite buffet, with more tasty real-flour breads from Philippe Rochat

marble. The shower is above the tub, which has a swing-back glass door.

and yogurts from Spasseff, jams from Andresy. The juice is just-

There are two sinks, and the toilet is shielded by a jutting-out wall.

squeezed, the coffee is individually filtered. Everything is perfect,

There is an electric towel rail. Toiletries are tubes of Le Jardin des

except that it is time to go. I get into the Mercedes Hybrid S-400 and a

Alpes.

charming young man from Ethiopia drives me to Geneva airport.

I head down, two floors below the lobby, to Centre de Bien-être, generally known as CBE Concept Spa. Run by Emeline Gauer, a Brazilian

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firecracker – in the nicest sense of the word - this is a fabulous area,

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both exotic and airy, professional and welcoming. Staff bustle silently

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around in loose white outfits: you discover displays of Aveda and other products, a boutique with vaguely-Indian garments, sitting areas that remind you of Morocco, a Yogi Booster Spa Bar and

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