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Hotel or Parking at Geneva airport?
Posted: 17 March 2013 05:41 AM  
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I use Geneva airport often but a Swiss friend usually looks after my car and takes me to the airport.  I live in a little ski resort called Habere Poche in Haute Savoie, in the Bellevaux/Les Haberes ski area.
I am flying to Sharm, Egypt on 11th June, at 6.40 a.m. so I don’t want to ask my friend to leave home at 3.30 a.m.
I have researched the budget hotels near the airport, which would enable me to leave my car with them, but the reviews on Trip Advisor for Stars and Campanile at Ferney Voltaire are very off-putting.
I don’t mind paying for two weeks parking in P51 or P26, but I wonder if anyone has found any other solution to leaving a car at Geneva airport?  There is no way I can get to the airport by public transport.

 
 
Posted: 17 March 2013 09:19 AM   [ # 1 ]  
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Geneva airport is tricky, as is most of Geneva. Surprisingly no-one seems to offer a valet parking service like you see round other airports. You could park in Ferney and walk across but it would take a good 45 minutes. Not sure the bus runs early enough for you. According to tpg.ch the first bus is at 06:35.

 
 
Posted: 17 March 2013 10:24 AM   [ # 2 ]  
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Thank you - actually there is a valet parking service but I found them rather rude when I used them and misunderstood their directions and parked in the wrong place to meet them.  I will just have to take chance on parking being available in P51 or P26.  It should be O.K. in June - after the ski season and before the walking season.  If anybody wants to try the service, I think it is called Parking Friend.

 
 
Posted: 17 March 2013 10:33 AM   [ # 3 ]  
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If you get a chance to get in to Geneva check the roads on the Geneva side as you go from Ferney up to Nations, some are not yet restricted parking.

 
 
Posted: 17 March 2013 05:09 PM   [ # 4 ]  
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Using http://fahrplan.sbb.ch I suggest the following:

2013.06.10 - evening before, take a train from Bons-en-Chablais to central Geneva and stay in hotel there. Early next morning take train or bus to airport. First connections get you to the airport around 5am which is plenty of time for a 0640 flight. Or get your pal to drive you there that evening.

Pasting a bit scrappy but you should see the idea

4
Show details for connection 4
Local area map: Bons-en-Chablais
Bons-en-Chablais Tu, 19.03.13 dep 19:01 1:23 4 RE, TRAM, BUS, IC
1. 2. 
Fare/Buy
Local area map: Genève-Aéroport
Genève-Aéroport arr 20:24
Connection 55
Show details for connection 5
Local area map: Bons-en-Chablais
Bons-en-Chablais Tu, 19.03.13 dep 19:01 1:26 3 RE, TRAM, BUS

(cant lookup French trains for June yet on swiss web...)

4
Show details for connection 4
Local area map: Genève
Genève Tu, 19.03.13 dep 04:43 0:13 0 RE
1. 2. 
Fare/Buy
Local area map: Genève-Aéroport
Genève-Aéroport arr 04:50
Connection 55
Show details for connection 5
Local area map: Genève, 22-Cantons
Genève, 22-Cantons Tu, 19.03.13 dep 04:45 0:27 0 TRO
Fare/Buy
Local area map: Genève, Aéroport (TPG)
Genève, Aéroport (TPG) arr 05:.....

 
 
Posted: 17 March 2013 06:54 PM   [ # 5 ]  
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What did you have against the Star for a night? I know it looks a bit of a fleapit but if they’ll let you leave your car it could be a plan. Put a sleeping bag in the car if you are worried about the bed.

I’ve stayed in the Campanile and the F1 in Ferney but both are a long walk compared to the Star. Can you get a taxi or courtesy bus I wonder?

 
 
Posted: 17 March 2013 10:22 PM   [ # 6 ]  
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Many thanks for all the information.
I am a 72 year old woman (yes, I know, you don’t expect me to go snorkeling in Egypt by myself, but I travel all over the world to snorkel on coral!) and my minimum requirements for a hotel room is that it is clean, comfortable and has private bath/shower/toilet.  The Stars has a couple of really bad reviews on Trip Advisor and I don’t think there are any en suite rooms. 
I did once manage to get from Habere Poche to Geneva airport, but it was very long, costly and frustrating.  There is no public transport of any kind in my isolated village, so I had to pay to leave my car at Annemasse station.  I thought I could get a train all the way to central Geneva, but it went only as far as Eaux Vives.  There were no taxis waiting there, but I asked the woman in a cafe to telephone one for me.  As it was a French taxi, with no vignette, it cost a great deal for the fare to the airport.  I should have caught a tram, or gone only as far as Cornavin but it was hot, I was flustered and had a heavy suitcase plus a backpack with my laptop in it.
I think it would be the same scenario from Bon-en-Chablais.
I would not be happy leaving my little Panda 4 x 4 unattended on a public road - it is my lifeline!

My Swiss friend has offered to take me to Neuchatel the night before, and I will book a room at the Cornavin hotel and get the first train to the airport.
At the moment, I am visiting my daughter in New Zealand (hence the delay in replying), and I arrive back in Geneva, via Nelson, Auckland, Singapore and Heathrow, at 9 pm. next Tuesday, so I am staying in the Cornavin Hotel that night and taking the train to Neuchatel next morning.  I am away for six weeks every Winter (in the NZ summer - I am not stupid!) and my friend looks after my car and turns over the engine from time to time.  I look after her house/garden/dog/cat for several weeks a year whilst she and her husband go on holiday, so this is how they return the favour.  I gather it it quite expensive in Switzerland to have your animals looked after and her old dog would hate to go into kennels.

 
 
Posted: 17 March 2013 10:36 PM   [ # 7 ]  
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If you do not fancy the Stars, then consider their sister hotel, the Median which is a 100 metres down the road. The Stars is fine for the price - the moaners just do not realise what a bargain they are getting for a hotel next to the airport - it’s a bed - a bit tatty but reasonably clean and the staff are good and if you ask nicely they will let you leave your car there - 2 weeks for a bed and parking for 50 euros - great value!  I walk to the French side of the airport - it takes half an hour but I almost always get a lift. There is also a bus stop opposite the Hotel or they will call you a taxi. If you are only away for 2 weeks then P51 is a good option but that will cost you about 200 Swiss and sometimes it is full.
If you really want to take a chance, then there is a parking bay adjacent the Stars (for the recycling bins)where you can park for free - I have parked there for a few weeks without issue but then I adopt the attitude that it is only a car and I really do not care what happens to it.
Good lucksmile

 
 
Posted: 17 March 2013 10:50 PM   [ # 8 ]  
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Hi Carol
From my experience, all the rooms are en-suite but as I previously said, they are a bit tatty. You will only be there half a night anyway. There is a Buffalo Grill just up the road, so you will not starve.
If you do use this or the Median, the I suggest you drive to the French side of the airport, park for free in the square ( you should not get booked at that time of the day), nip through to the Swiss side with your bags and check in, then drive back to the Stars, park up and walk back - you should get a lift, even at that time of the morning - if a 60 year old bloke can, you definately willsmile

 
 
Posted: 18 March 2013 08:13 AM   [ # 9 ]  
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Hi Carol,

arriving at Geneve Eaux Vives from Chablais is a bit of a shock, I’ve been that way, and it has the feel of a sleepy country station, but remember it is the boundary between French public transport (average) and Swiss (excellent). Mainly for the record, you walk about 50m to the main road and get bus or tram (connections included on the sbb site).

[ Edited: 18 March 2013 08:20 AM by mattski]