The Top 18 Hotels Near La Maison d'à Côté
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A two-room bed and breakfast on the top floor of a building that's been around forever, in a mountain town that produces a remarkable share of France's pastis and absinthe. One room leans historical, the other contemporary, both decorated with an eclecticism that stops just short of chaos. It's a genuinely small operation, so if both rooms are booked, that's it. Pontarlier sits midway between Basel and Geneva, which helps explain the clientele.
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A clockwork-themed luxury hotel that somehow sidesteps the gift-shop outcome, designed by Bjarke Ingels Group in the watchmaking heartland of the Vallée de Joux. The architecture nods to its inspiration without going full cuckoo clock: rooms are light-filled with long alpine views, the Alpeor spa draws on local ingredients, and two restaurants run under celebrated chef Emmanuel Renaut. The valley is remote enough that you came here on purpose.
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A 19th-century cloister in the old heart of Besançon, converted into a boutique hotel with just enough monastic bones left to feel like somewhere, not just somewhere nice. The name means "wild," which the nuns who preceded the guests would find baffling given the spa. Rooms look out over the citadel and the river, and there's a restaurant downstairs for the nights you'd rather not wander far.
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A 17th-century mansion in Arbois that its owners run as a five-room chambre d'hôtes, keeping enough of the private-home feel that you half expect someone's grandmother to appear with a key. Rooms draw on the town's natural surroundings for their decorative theme, antique in spirit but pulled together with boutique-hotel coherence. The owners are well-connected in Jura wine circles, which tends to make itself known in useful ways.
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Perched high on Lausanne's terraced hillside, this grand hotel has Lake Geneva and the Alps out the back and the financial district out the front, which tells you most of what you need to know about who stays here. Marble public spaces and old-world service that borders on ceremonial anchor the 19th-century bones, while many guest rooms run contemporary. Book a rear-facing room with a balcony. The Michelin Guide awarded it 2 Keys.
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Overwater bungalows on Lake Neuchâtel, which is to say Switzerland rather than the Maldives, with the Alps sitting across the water and a ladder off the balcony dropping straight into the lake. This boutique hotel was built by Siemens as something of a high-tech showcase, though the glass floor panels offering views into the water below steal the conversation. Bathrooms look like design installations. The Michelin Guide awarded it one Key.
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A 17th-century Jura farmhouse that behaves nothing like one inside, Maison Zugno is a small country hotel where the owners have layered bold contemporary furniture and color against old stone and period bones. The standout room is L'Observatoire, a cylindrical freestanding suite with a curved picture window wrapping the bedroom. A small spa, outdoor pool, and jacuzzi round things out for anyone who came here specifically to do nothing.
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Lord Byron once stayed here with a peacock, a monkey, and a replica of Napoleon's coach, which tells you something about the company this lakeside hotel in Lausanne has always kept. Inside, though, it runs thoroughly contemporary, all clean-lined rooms and fast wi-fi, while outside the manicured gardens face Lake Geneva and the Alps above. Business travelers fill much of the place, with a converted mansion given over entirely to private functions.
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A medieval lakeside castle hotel on the shores of Lake Geneva, the kind of place where the walls are literally 900 years old and the windows frame the Alps. Rooms are spacious with floor-to-ceiling windows, and the suites lean into neo-gothic furniture and, in one case, a full 360-degree panoramic view of the lake. The bar is set inside the oldest stone section of the structure, which is a genuinely hard room to beat for a nightcap.
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The terrace views over Lake Geneva and the French Alps have been making guests feel smug about their itinerary since the place was new, which was a very long time ago. This classic Swiss lakeside grand hotel holds fifty rooms and suites dressed in lush traditional style with just enough contemporary restraint to avoid tipping into museum. A Michelin Key, a fine-dining restaurant, a spa, and a summertime Buddha-Bar Beach pop-up round out a quietly overachieving package.
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The storybook facade on Lake Geneva looks borrowed from Venice, which sets the tone for everything inside. This grand hotel in Vevey has two restaurants, a spa, and rooms done in old-world elegance that stops just short of fussy. The panoramic terrace puts the Alps directly across the water. Vevey itself is an easy case to make: fine wine, good chocolate, and the Montreux Jazz Festival practically next door.
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The Belle Époque facade stretching along Lake Geneva's shore is so insistently grand it makes most hotels calling themselves "grand" look sheepish. This is Montreux's landmark palace hotel, with the preserved opulence, the caste system of room categories, and the lake-view balconies that reward an upgrade. Funky Claude's Bar nods to the founder of the Jazz Festival next door. The Amrita spa and meeting rooms confirm it doubles as a serious business hotel. The Michelin Guide awards it 2 Keys.
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Vintage skis hang above the headboards at this chalet-style Alpine hotel on the Col de la Faucille, which tells you everything about the tone: mountain heritage, boutique comfort, not a single rough edge. The windows in the casual dining room frame Lake Geneva and Mont Blanc simultaneously, which feels almost unfair. Two restaurants, ski-in access, and rooms that manage to feel both cozy and genuinely luxurious.