We have just returned from a 4 day break in Geneva and stayed at the 3 * Admiral Hotel, (July 2008). The reviews we had read were generally positive but the odd one or two had made us slightly anxious. However, we were not disappointed at all. The hotel is well placed and is within easy walking distance of the main station. It's also within 5 minutes walking distance of the lake. The area is lively and bustling with lots of restaurants and although the red light district is next door (literally), it's hardly a problem and no one bothers you at all. The reception area is manned 24/7 and the room we got was a good size. It was number 24, facing the street, and was a twin. I'm not sure if a double is the same size but we always ask for a twin room as they are often larger than doubles. Some of the negative reviews had led us to believe that the rooms in this hotel are quite small. Well, number 24 is just fine. The wardrobe is a good size with enough hangers and you also get a mini kettle and a supply of tea (no milk though). The TV has BBC Prime and CNN so you can get an English speaking channel if you want. One odd thing though is that one receptionist told us that we couldn't get extra pillows as the hotel didn't have any. However the next morning we asked a different receptionist and got the extra pillows straight away! Breakfast is really good and there is a wide range to cater for all tastes. You can also get free internet access in the lobby from 2 computers. If you want a cheap but good lunch in Geneva, try the restaurant at the top of CO-OP City on the left bank. It's self service; there's a huge choice and it's great value for money. If you want to go further afield but are on a budget, get the train to Lausanne. It's a really interesting place, about 45 minutes and 42 CHF return. You can go from there to Montreux by boat, about 1.5 hours and 22 CHF single; you can save money and get the train back to Lausanne, about 25 minutes and 10 CHF single, and then back to Geneva. A good place to eat in Montreux is The Paradise Pub in the main street (Grand Rue). Again it's self service and your food is weighed. They have a huge salad section (your choice is weighed) and your main course is cooked to order. Compared with other more expensive places, it's good value. Geneva operates a free local bus and tram service for holiday makers and you get your pass from reception. It's well worth it and your pass lets you get back to the airport as well. You can also get free train or bus travel from the airport to the city. You have to look for the ticket machine inside the baggage reclaim hall. It's not really signposted and if we hadn't read about it we wouldn't have known. Finally take some wet weather gear with you. Throughout the whole of one of our days, the heavens opened; I suppose the lake has to get its water from somewhere. The rest of the time the weather was great.

Cosy, clean, excellent breakfast, free wifi Internet, 2-3 blocks from Cornavin train station south to the lake, and 1 min-walk from a simple yet very delicious kebab shop -- one of the best I've tried, and I've been to all continents. They also have 2 PC desktops running Linux and Firefox web browser: i.e. all legal and perfect!! The owner, C?dric Noujaim, is a very nice person, and does his best. I strongly recommend for the ones that don't want to spend too much.

Beware, this hotel does not refund your money when you have to make a cancellation. They charge the FULL amount. I made a booking for two work colleagues who later had to cancel and the full amount was charged even though I cancelled within 24 hours. It was in the small print but I had made the booking on line and assumed (wrongly) that there would just be a normal cancellation fee of a small percentage. What a rip off.

I stayed at this Hotel on either side of a trip to Rome (a total of four nights).It is located very close to the railway station and, as the website says, just a few minutes from Lac Leman / de Geneve The room wasn't huge but absolutely fine for one (even two) and had modern, tasteful decor. The bed was very comfortable with quality bedding, the bathroom spacious and modern with a hairdryer and a range of toiletries; tea-making facilities were provided. The wireless internet worked perfectly, the TV offered a range of channels and there was an in-room safe, an overhead fan and noise-reducing glazing. An iron and board were available to borrow and there were also computer facilities downstairs for those without their own PC. The staff at reception were very helpful and pleasant and when I had occasion to seek emergency dental care, even though the young woman at reception wasn't able to suggest a contact, she was happy to phone the office after I had located a dentist. A major highlight was the superb breakfast (included) - a full buffet in the broadest sense - and delicious! I would definitely return to the Admiral Hotel.

My husband and I were on our one-year anniversary trip, and we stayed at Hotel Admiral for 2 nights while on our way to Paris. We drove in from Bern, and our impressions of the neighborhood that the hotel is located in should've been a red flag to us. The bad: There is a sex shop next door, and many questionable ladies walking the streets-- everytime we went out, I stuck pretty close to my husband. When we walked into our hotel room, there was a strong smell of smoke and it was obvious that whoever was there before us was a smoker (even though the hotel is non-smoking). Luckily, I always carry around a travel-sized scented candle (to remind me of home), so it wasn't long before our room smelled good. Similar to the experience of another reviewer, our bedspread had gross stains on it. I made my husband take it off and we didn't use it the whole time we stayed there. There were also scrape marks on the walls. Also, on the last night that we were there, we discovered that the walls are very thin-- we could hear everything that our next door neighbors were doing. The good: The hotel front desk staff person that helped us was very friendly and nice. They provide free transportation passes for your stay. We didn't wind up using them, but it was nice to know we could've. There's a really good Italian restaurant a few blocks away. They make an amazing tri-colored salad and pizza. Yum. The hotel's breakfast buffet was decent. There was alot of variety to chose from. Free wireless internet! This was the cheapest hotel we stayed at-- it was a good value. We are very easy-going people and so we didn't complain to management staff about any of our problems. Partly, it was because we figured we were only staying there for 2 nights, so we decided to tough it out. I wish that we read all of the bad reviews and did better research before booking the hotel-- if we did, we probably would've stayed somewhere else. With that said, we probably won't be staying here again and we won't be recommending it to our friends and family.