Le Prince

From its post in the university district, the two-star Le Prince Hotel hosts wayward students and professors. The 21 small, dated rooms at this family-run inn provide a good value, although the place could benefit from a new coat of paint and some airing out.

The miniscule rooms have definitely seen better days. The generic wooden furniture has surely been around for decades, and we’re guessing the threadbare sheets have, too. But the parquet flooring, crowned with area rugs, adds a certain avuncular character. In fact, sleeping here is a bit like staying with your bachelor uncle—there’s something clumsy and dated about the décor, but you know the owner cares.

All rooms are equipped with a minibar, telephone and cable TV, and rooms with air conditioning are available (ask ahead). The clean bathrooms come equipped with large bottles of shampoo and body wash (instead of tiny designer vials), and two bigger rooms have bathtubs (ask ahead).

The reception, with its wooden panel desk and clunky fax machine, says it all: This place has missed the advent of flat-screen TVs and mood lighting. But the lobby leads to a dark bar, making Le Prince one of the very few budget hotels in Geneva with its own drinking hole, albeit a somewhat sad-looking one.

It’s no lap of luxury, but the Le Prince fulfills its role as a budget hotel that’s acceptably comfortable.

Breakfast costs an additional CHF12 each per day, which isn’t so dramatic in this murderously expensive Swiss city. Note that we noticed a faint smell of cats in the lobby, in case you’re sensitive.