Hôtel des Trois Couronnes
Vevey, Switzerland
From: Luxury
Hotels on Lac Léman
ABOVE: The hotel and the town of Vevey.
INSET BELOW: Another view of the building, which opened in 1842 and was enlarged
in 1890.
The
Hôtel des Trois Couronnes
was named Switzerland's "Hotel of the Year" in
2003, but the hotel's reputation is hardly new: As a Switzerland Tourism
article tells us, the Vevey hotelier Gilbert Monnet opened the Trois
Couronnes in 1842, when "there
were few hotels on the shores of Lake Geneva that could measure up to it as far
as size and interiors were concerned."
Although the "Hotel of the Three Crowns" looks quite large, it's
the smallest and most intimate of the three hotels profiled in this article: It
has only 55 bedrooms and suites, with public rooms--including a three-story
atrium with marble columns--occupying much of the building's interior. Rooms are
large, ceilings are high, and the atmosphere is one of Belle
Époque elegance with 21st Century touches (such as
a fitness center in the sort of room where diplomats might have signed a peace
treaty at the time of the Spanish-American War).
The hotel's surprisingly reasonable rates include access to the
grotto-inspired Puressens Spa (see
photos on next page),
where you'll find an indoor pool with underwater music, a sauna, a steam bath, a
fitness center, and relaxation areas with views of the Alps. Massages, facial,
and beauty treatments are available, including treatments with plant-based
skincare products from Joëlle
Ciocco of Paris.
If spa treatments aren't enough, you can book cellular
revitalization cures and other therapies at the independently managed
Clinique Paul Niehans, which occupies a
wing of the hotel.
Food and drink are offered in a Louis XV-style restaurant with
an outdoor terace and the Veranda piano bar. The Puressens Spa serves light
meals and healthy drinks.
Location: The Hôtel des
Trois Coronnes is on the lakefront in Vevey,
a town of 16,000 whose famous residents have included Jean-Jacques Rousseau,
Fyodor Dostoevsky, Graham Greene, and Charlie Chaplin. Vevey, which is only 45
minutes from Geneva Airport, is a convenient base for exploring the winegrowing
region along the shores of Lac Léman.
Hotel Web site:
www.hoteltroiscouronnes.ch
Next page:
Hôtel
des Trois Couronnes photos
Photos copyright © Hôtel des Trois Couronnes.
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