There’s a hush that settles the moment you step off Rue du Cendrier and into Hotel Rotary, an MGallery by Accor Group brand. Geneva’s business district hums outside, but the lobby moves at a slower pace: polished wood, a patina of brass, and clusters of objects that read less like décor and more like a collector’s trail. The effect sets the tone for a stay that favours detail over spectacle and story over sameness — very Geneva, yet quietly its own thing.
The property’s origins go some way to explaining that feel: opened in 1976 by architect and antiques enthusiast René Favre, the hotel was conceived as a lived-in homage to the city’s past, filtered through an Art Deco sensibility. That founding idea still anchors the place today.
Hotel Rotary is located within walking distance to Cornavin Station
Inside, spaces feel collected rather than designed to a theme. Vignettes of vintage pieces sit alongside contemporary touches; a fireplace draws the eye in cooler months, while the courtyard-terrace of L’Artisan opens up when the weather turns kind. The house philosophy is boutique at heart, while supported by practical comforts that modern travellers expect. The hotel carries Green Key certification too, a nod to sustainability that’s increasingly table stakes in European hospitality.
The world “Rotary” is familiar and calls to mind the global service movement born in Chicago in 1905. The hotel now carries the name because the Rotary Club in Geneva back in to 1970s would frequently host their meetings at the hotel. While that is no longer the case today, the hotel keeps that memory in its name.
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The interior in the hotel's lobby is a mix and match of modern and classic designs
More concrete is the property’s own timeline. Favre’s original vision in the 1970s — part refined townhouse, part cabinet of curiosities — remains visible in the bones: the scale of the salons, the choice of materials, the way antiques are placed as if they’ve always lived there.
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The result is a hotel with a memory: you sense earlier eras in the lines and textures even as newer tech sprinkles the space and the operation runs to contemporary standards.
Rooms follow the same language. There are 95 in total, spread across Classic, Signature and Duplex categories, with the practicalities neatly covered, including a fitness room and sauna within the property. The hotel’s restaurant and bar L’Artisan serves breakfast to nightcap (terrace seats, when available, go quickly).
The rooms are bright and comfortable
We stayed in the older block and found the presentation true to the hotel’s promise of character. The first impression was light: tall windows that actually invite the day into the room. Geneva is famous for rooms that can run compact in the centre; ours felt generously sized, with an easy flow from entrance to bed to seating without the shuffle.
Design-wise, the room pulled off a balance that’s harder than it looks: an antique writing desk and vintage chair anchored one corner; a contemporary reading lamp and newer side table completed the vignette. The pieces shared proportions and tone, so the look read as coherent rather than haphazard. That’s the Rotary’s point of difference. Plenty of hotels buy “eclectic”; fewer feel genuinely curated.
Here, the old-and-new pairing has an internal logic, as if a home that has evolved through thoughtful additions over decades.
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If you’re the planning type, the hard specs are reassuring. Signature rooms come in around 28m² and Duplex options add a touch more theatre across two levels, particularly useful if you like your work and sleep zones distinct.
L’Artisan serves breakfast to nightcap
A few final notes worth keeping in mind. First, sustainability isn’t just a badge here: Green Key certification means the property meets a set of independently assessed standards across energy, water, waste and community. It’s the sort of behind-the-scenes work most guests won’t see but many will appreciate. Second, the property’s size, which is neither micro-boutique nor corporate behemoth, helps the public areas breathe.
Third, if you like hotels with stories, Rotary rewards the curious eye with the vintage frame by the staircase, the travel-worn trunk by a sofa, the quiet wit of a piece that’s clearly earned its place. And last but not least, the property’s fantastic location just minutes away from Cornavin station and located in the middle of all the great shopping and food.
