Reply to: geneva accomodation

[francie]

its a 6months+extension working for a bank. But long term I may look into moving to France rather than doing the commute every week. It will be more pleasant that way, than staying into crappy hotels. I guess I'll discover the lovely Annemasse eventually

[Fred Bloggs]

I never minded the Liverpool one - it was when I had to go via Manchester that I hated it. I could leave on the Monday 7am flight out of liverpool and be in Geneva for about 10ish and at my desk for 11. Plus, during the ski season the flights were dirt cheap. Once they moved to the summer schedule, there was no 7am flight and I had to go back to the Sunday evening one out of Manchester. That effectively made your weekend a day and a half - and the prices over the summer go mental because there are limited seats and a lot of people commuting! You'd see the same faces at the airport each week. There are plenty of people doing the EJ shuffle!

Glad I'm not one of them though!

[BoredBloke]

Reading this makes me glad I turned down a job with Addax Petroleum in Geneva. I never fancied the EJ commute (Liverpool > Geneva) anyway.

I never minded the Liverpool one - it was when I had to go via Manchester that I hated it. I could leave on the Monday 7am flight out of liverpool and be in Geneva for about 10ish and at my desk for 11. Plus, during the ski season the flights were dirt cheap. Once they moved to the summer schedule, there was no 7am flight and I had to go back to the Sunday evening one out of Manchester. That effectively made your weekend a day and a half - and the prices over the summer go mental because there are limited seats and a lot of people commuting! You'd see the same faces at the airport each week. There are plenty of people doing the EJ shuffle!

[Fred Bloggs]

Reading this makes me glad I turned down a job with Addax Petroleum in Geneva. I never fancied the EJ commute (Liverpool > Geneva) anyway.

[BoredBloke]

Thanks guys for answering so fast, and particularly TonyEnglish. From what I have seen, yip, the place is full of expensive tulip hotels
Am actually in similar case, flying ej every week. Lets hope the place is better than the hotels... or else its gonna feel like a loooong contract

Who are you working for? I was at Cargill and they were pretty flexible in terms of arriving late/leaving early to make flights - so long as I made my hours. Having a good rate out there helps a lot!! A pint in Pickwicks was 9.5 chf, which when the pound is around 1.5 chf makes it an expensive drink!

How long is your contract? Unless it's at least 6 months you stand no chance of getting anything to rent. There is a really limited supply of accomodations in Geneva which drives up the price. So landlords can ask for stupid rents - i think the standard is 3 months rent + 1 months rent as a security deposit before you can move in. So if your rent is 3000 chf, you'll be looking at stumping up 12,000 chf before they will give you the keys! That's essentially why I stayed in Annemasse.

Another tip, there is a big apparthotel right on the border. Everybody I spoke to said it was really horrible.

A guy I worked with bought a motorbike and rented a place in one of the French ski resorts for the summer. That worked out pretty cheap, so if you have transport out there it is something to think about.

[francie]

Thanks guys for answering so fast, and particularly TonyEnglish. From what I have seen, yip, the place is full of expensive tulip hotels
Am actually in similar case, flying ej every week. Lets hope the place is better than the hotels... or else its gonna feel like a loooong contract

[Paddy]

A bit of a ramble!!

I did 14 months out there and commuted weekly via EJ. (not fun)

I sayed at the Park & Suites - they did a deal for 35 euro a night if you booked it for a month. I don't know what it would be if you booked less.

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[BoredBloke]

Am starting a contract in 2 weeks in Geneva, can anyone recommend hotels or b&b. I see lots of affordable ones on the french side (eg Annemasse) but how easy it is to commute there by train/bus from the center of Geneva?
Would appreciate any help.

Other points

You can get a free travel ticket in the baggage reclaim part of the airport - there are a couple of machines next to the exit into the arrival halls.

All the trains from the airport go to Geneva. Just get on any.

To get to Annemasse from the trainstation take the 16 tram. That goes down to the border. The 12 and the 17 go to the border also, but not from the train station. There are 3 busses that leaver the border part of Annemasse that go into the centre of town - it's a bit of a walk, but not a huge one. I used to walk it a lot. I think the 3 goes around the houses while the 1 & 2 go direct. Catch the busses before they cross the border as they often get mobbed at the first stop over the border.

Where in Geneva will you be working?

[BoredBloke]

A bit of a ramble!!

I did 14 months out there and commuted weekly via EJ. (not fun)

You need a permit to work - my agency sorted that out, but I was never ever asked for it.

You have to have a border crossing permit - I lived in Annemasse for most of my time out there and was never asked for it...ever! I've crossed the border on foot, lugging a case behind me, past the border guards and not once asked for my permit. Good job as I never saw it during the 14 months I was out there.

I had to work as a Swiss National through a Management company. Most agencies will direct you to their preferred one. I was via Abraxas and used Tresag, dealt with Neil Jones.

I had to set up a Swiss bank Account, UBS were the easiest to do. They needed a swiss address so I used the management companies address.

Annemasse is an absolute toilet but pretty expensive for what you get. While it is cheaper than Geneva it's no way as safe and can feel a little uncomfortable walking through it late at night.

There are no good bars in Annemasse

I sayed at the Park & Suites - they did a deal for 35 euro a night if you booked it for a month. I don't know what it would be if you booked less. The My Suites in Gaillard is part of the same group - it looks run down from the outside - it is on the inside also! But it is clean and has basic cooking facilities and there are 2 small supermarkets within easy walking distance for food and beer. It's more expensive than the other, but you can walk to the border.

Also in Annemasse there is an IBIS - I stayed there but could never book it for a cheap price and it's not that great. Some of the beds are really horrible, effectivly a mattress on a chipboard frame that creaks loudly anytime you move!

La Place in the centre of town is cheap and there is a bus stop down the road that has a number of busses that run to the border. I did about 2 weeks there but got sick of the routine of eating from takeaways, so had to find something a little more suitable. I stayed at the my suites place in Gaillard for a few months before moving further into annemasse to the my suites mentioned earlier.

There is a All Seasons hotel further up from the IBIS (part of the same group) That's actually really nice inside , or it was when I stayed there, but it had only just opened. Again it is hard to book it at their cheap rates.

Getting from Annemasse to Geneva is easy enough. I think it was something like 3 euro to get a 2 hour ticket. That pays for the bus and any transport in Geneva. You can buy monthly passes for about 80chf which coveres annemasse also

I also stayed at the etap hotel in Annemasse - it's miles out of town and horrible. My room was dirty and stunk of cigs. I'd paid for 3 nights there and walked out after 1. I also stayed at a place called le Cenecle in Geneva - it's owned by the catholic church and full of bible bashing back packers! It's very very basic!

If you are booking a hotel, it's worth using something like expedia via Quidco to get the cashback. If you are stumping up for accomodation in Geneva then 10% back on a 2 week stay could be enough to almost buy you a pint in Geneva!!!

[ThomasSoerensen]

I am sure his uimbrella company will sort it all out for him.

He seems to be on top of his game.

[stek]

And is it a G-permit for frontalier?

All accomodation in CH is expensive! Suggest you mosey on over to http://englishforum.ch and ask....

[ThomasSoerensen]

If you're the citizen of an EU country why would you need a work permit ?

if you work for more than 90 days there you need a permit because the Swiss say so.

if you work there less than 90 days you do not need a permit - but you need to register at the latest 8 days before arriving because the Swiss say so.

[Dearnla]

If you're the citizen of an EU country why would you need a work permit ?

Because Switzerland isn't in the EU, last time I looked.

[amcdonald]

do you have a border-crossing residence/work permit? If not, you have to stay on the Swiss side.

If you're the citizen of an EU country why would you need a work permit ?

[ThomasSoerensen]

Am starting a contract in 2 weeks in Geneva, can anyone recommend hotels or b&b. I see lots of affordable ones on the french side (eg Annemasse) but how easy it is to commute there by train/bus from the center of Geneva?
Would appreciate any help.

do you have a border-crossing residence/work permit? If not, you have to stay on the Swiss side.