comfortably secure in geneva

For one reason or another, Geneva has perpetually maintained its status as a global home base to the risk averse. As the credit markets whip-saw and the global affluent try to dodge tightening tax nooses, its nice to know this hasn't changed, in a city that now, more than ever, attracts the money set. Geneva today is more than a haven for the rich — the global nature of today's rich means that the city is increasingly a stopping off point and cultural home to a lot of fun, interesting people, making the city more desirable than ever, and always high on the cultural indexes of that elusive "quality of life" we all seek.

Arrivals
Geneva’s international airport is encased in a crystallized network of watch ads and private banking claims, setting a hushed, efficient tone from the moment you step off an aircraft. Practice pronouncing Pictet & Cie and Lombard Odier pronounciation as you glide through immigration to a taxi, which competes with the efficient swiss rail network as the best way into the city center. The taxi will run you about €40.00 for the short journey.

Hotels
The hotel scene is summed up in two words: comfortably expensive. This is not a city for budget accomodation, boutique hotels with throbbing lobbies, or capsule locations and space age cuisine.

At the top of the agenda is the mythical La Reserve, one of the world’s great spa hotels, located in lush park environs astride Lake Geneva. La Reserve is the type of place where people sit back and recuperate from their face lift with a carrot juice and a manicurist, while your personal assistant whispers the latest commodity prices into your freshly moisturized ear. In a word, heaven.

A little more central is the newly refurbished Mandarin Oriental Geneva, a ridiculously posh location on the banks of the River Rhone that only reopened following extensive renovations in July 2008. The Mandarin Oriental offers perfect business capabilities with an understated elegance that makes it the spiritual home of the wing-tipped banker, and the prices reflect that reality. Finally, and of a slightly more affordable shade of grey, is the Hotel De La Paix, which is situated on the Lake with a series of great views and service.

Restaurants
Geneva is currently enjoying an influx of Europeans in flight: non-domiciled Londoners are flocking there to escape higher taxes in the UK, the French merrily skip across to enjoy their gains, and its become the new summer home of Arabia. As such, the scene is
getting better and better in Geneva, and while always understated, a night out here can be quite fun.

At the top of the list are Heaven Lounge, Arthur’s Rive Gauche, and Senso, all of which perfectly employ Geneva’s sense of dinner + drinks — this is not a “bar” city, and most evenings are centered around a lingering dinner with drinks afterward or adjacent. All three of these locations get full and rocking later in the evening, if in a slightly more subdued way than you may have seen. At the new Mandarin Oriental, Geneva's first Michelin starred Indian chef, Vineet Bhatia is making waves with London's Adam Tihany at Rasoi — a beautiful contemporary space that’s perfect for an intimate business dinner or a small group in need of a perfect private room. Rasoi is probably the best new restaurant in Geneva, and offers great views over the Rhone.

Activities
Despite the large number of international institutions located in Geneva, including an alphabet soup of WEF, WHO, CARE, IAEA, IARC, UN, and others, its not all work and no play in Switzerland’s second largest city.

Summertime Geneva revolves around the Lake, and its not difficult to book a boating or waterskiing excursion out of the city to check things out. Nothing beats a small Riva on the waves, skirting along the small towns and suburbs that make up the south and western shores of the Lake. A number of cultural activities, including the famously wonderful Montreaux Jazz Festival, set the tone here, with a heady mix of music, food and people-watching that make a Swiss summer feel like the center of the world.

Whether its flamenco dancing, Foreigner or Motorhead, each year the Festival reinterprets the latest in musical culture for the thousands of people who flock to the event, enjoying sunshine on the lake shores with a good dose of late night action.
So there you have it — Geneva is making its mark in its quiet, confident way, and enjoying a bit of a moment while its at it. The slower pace of the city might be just the trick after all that stress watching the markets, doomsday scenarios on the news, and thinking about where in the world things are still secure. Geneva. Always.

Stan Stalnaker is the founder and creative director of Hub Culture Ltd., a movement with a suite of activities focused on content development, private social networks and global experiences. He can be contacted at stan.stalnaker@hubculture.com.