The Woodward, an Oetker Collection Hotel

The Woodward is a very beautiful hotel, with rooms matching the quality of any luxury hotel in the world and reminded me a lot of Le Bristol in Paris. I highly recommend this hotel, but do think there are areas for improvement, particularly with the breakfast which was the only disappointing aspect of the hotel. One minor issue with the room is that there is air conditioning in the room, but not the bathroom area, which is separated by a hallway, so the bathroom area gets quite hot and cannot be cooled down. I wish that could be fixed somehow, but otherwise the room is fantastic. The only true disappointment was the breakfast. Breakfast at a luxury hotel should always be a perfectly choreographed highlight to start the day (if only because it is so predictable and therefore relatively easy for the hotel to plan compared to other hotel operations). But unfortunately, breakfast at the Woodward falls short in many ways. The most obvious issue is the breakfast venue - it faces the lake which is wonderful, but no thought was given to the shades, so the entire venue is blinded in direct sunlight. There are basically no seats in the shade. There is an up-down window shade, but it does not block the sunlight, and none of the balcony seats have any shade from the sun. It’s honestly really bad - all they need is some sort of extendable roof shade for the morning hours, which many hotels have, but not here. The breakfast itself is also disappointing in terms of available options. The flagship namesake “Woodward” breakfast set is quite limited. You have a standard choice of egg dishes, but the choice of topping is strategically limited in a way that feels low-class. You can’t have avocado without an extra charge, and any other types of exotic toppings that might make the dishes unique (such as “Alpine Gruyere”) are limited to the extra charge section of the menu. And the dishes they do offer have strangely small portions. The side of bacon was shockingly small, like a children’s portion - I took a picture because it was so comical at a luxury hotel to be rationed like war-time. The type of dishes available in the flagship “Woodward” breakfast set are also very limited. Do you want a waffle? Extra charge. Avocado toast? Extra charge. There is also no fresh fruit option included in the flagship “Woodward” breakfast. Bowl of berries? Extra charge. Sliced fruits or mango? Extra charge. I have stayed at several luxury and non-luxury hotels in the past month, all of which offered sliced avocado, unlimited fruit (including blackberries and blueberries and mango), french toast, and waffles as part of the standard breakfast rate. Luxury hotels often do not include these items if you choose to order to your room, which I understand given the logistics, but in the restaurant breakfast experience, all of these items should be available without additional charge, particularly at a hotel of this caliber. If you go to any luxury brand hotel (Mandarin Oriental, etc), they will have all of these items “all-you-can-eat” in the restaurant breakfast, as well as salads and vegetables and many other items. Frankly, I also thought the juice portion in the restaurant was laughably small (tiny cup only half filled up). And though I don’t like to say it, I was disappointed by the breakfast staff in the restaurant. His English unfortunately is lacking which makes the interactions exhaustingly repetitive. And he broke one of my worst pet peeves - when taking the order, he didn’t write it down, and then got the order wrong and forgot items we had ordered. That is so irritating at any restaurant, but especially at a luxury hotel, and especially when we were the only guests at breakfast so there was no hurry. One final issue with the breakfast that I found very weird and irritating is how they deal with the bakery basket. When you check in, they are careful to note that they have a fancy pastry chef. Ok great, but unfortunately it seems to have made them very stingy with the pastries. If you go to any comparable hotel in Paris for example, they shower the table with bread and pastries - it’s kind of ridiculous honestly, but it feels like luxurious abundance. At the Woodward though, they are very stingy about the bakery baskets in a way I have never seen before. If you are a group of two, they will give you one basket, with a set of items, all one item each. So if you and your partner both want the same type of bakery item, that’s too bad. You both want to try the fancy pastry chef’s strawberry creation? You can’t. You both want a basic croissant? You can’t. Of course, a “bakery basket” should be included in every order of the “Woodward” breakfast and is stated as such on the menu. But the hotel weirdly is trying to save pennies by being stingy about it. There was a family of four seated near us later at breakfast in the restaurant, and they received the same single bakery basket (which is even more bizarre in this example, as I overheard the gentlemen tell the waiter BOTH of their room numbers when they sat down since they had a separate room for their two kids). So that family of four paying for two rooms had to share the same bakery basket as our couple of two in one room. I can only assume that if you are eating alone, you get the full bakery basket - should we all eat alone at separate tables to get our bakery baskets promised in the menu?? Just to make sure I wasn’t misunderstanding, I ordered breakfast the next day in the room (since there is zero advantage to eating in the restaurant), and I explicitly asked for two bakery baskets, one for me and one for my wife since we were ordering two separate “Woodward” breakfasts. But the attendant informed me that it is “one bakery basket per couple”. What is this, a Denny’s where I have to argue with the waiter about what is literally printed on the menu? This is a luxury hotel and the Woodward needs to start acting like it. It’s such a weird thing to fixate on and I think demonstrates the overall issue with the breakfast at the Woodward. The breakfast options are so limited and intended to nickel-and-dime the guest to charge extra for any possible item outside of the limited menu, but when it comes to the hotel delivering on its contractual obligations as printed in the menu, they get stingy. To note, if you order the bakery basket separately a la carte, the menu lists it as CHF 35 - so they seem to be saving themselves quite a bit of money by forcing everyone to weirdly share breakfast pastries. Weirdly, but in the same trend, I also ordered the spring chicken dish for a room service dinner, which very clearly states that it comes with french fries and a side salad. But because hotels often mess this kind of stuff up, I asked the woman on the phone to confirm. And she weirdly said no, it doesn’t come with fries or a side salad. So I asked her to double check, since presumably as the room service employee she has access to a menu, and then she realized it does come with those items. Again, why am I spending my time arguing with hotel employees about what is literally printed on the menu? I don’t want to do that. Anyway, I really love this hotel overall and the room is beautiful, but the breakfast is very disappointing and needs to be fixed to have the full luxury experience. Hopefully they’ll have it sorted out by the next time I stay in Geneva.

The Woodward, Auberge Resorts Collection is a very luxurious place. I highly recommend visiting it. High quality services.

This is still an amazing hotel, our third year here. It’s going through some changes under new management, yet the team are still great and the hotel still well maintained. We had amazing treatments, they even remembered our preferences from the last treatments we had, which was nice. Breakfast is still crowned by the amazing pastry selection, Do not change this Auberge!!

This hotel caught my eye recently. I always stayed in Four Seasons in Geneva, so I wanted to try something different. This hotel changed owner/operator recently from Oetker Family to Auberge Resorts Collection, which is dominantly presented in North America. This hotel is a small gem in Geneva, has only 26 suites so it is very private! You enter hotel from a side road which provides a incognito entrance for guests, then you will enter red lift like from 19th century to get off on the 1st floor. Reception is well hidden and lobby is very nice, you can enjoy a view on Geneva Lake. Staff is extremely attentive, polite and kind. Rooms are just wonderful, big, only solid materials are used, bathroom is big, dyson hairdryer pleased my wife. All amenities are properly selected and are of top quality. Very comfortable beds, room is isolated from outside noise. Wardrobe big enough to hide your suits for a fashion week. We really appreciated swimming pool, which is on -2 floor. This 21m long pool was great advantage. Sauna “world” is more than sufficient for client´s needs. In the evening we tried 2 michelin star restaurant L atelier Robuchon and it was very good experience. I must say it surprised me, that is not overpriced as it could be in Geneva. Also offer of wines was good (I always try local wines). Breakfast is till 10:30 ( just check your time, not to come too late :)). Quality of food was very good and we always prefer serviced breakfast, not a buffet, but some hungry eater, who are unable to speak foreign languages could be unhappy, but the hotel will prepare for you whatever you want. The atmosphere was amazing, you are on the 1 floor overlooking the road and watching the marine and Geneva lake. Big applause to whole staff and people involved. 100% recommendation

The property is spectacular and location on the lake is perfect. The suite was spotless and beautiful, service friendly, and I had the best omelet of my life at breakfast! We were only able to stay one night on a trip through switzerland (at a 5 star hotel at each location), and The Woodward was a highlight of all of our accommodations. Ticked every box!