The Hotel du Port’s lakeside location is second to none, right on the little harbour in Yvoire. The restaurant has a first-floor terrace with the most enchanting views of Lac Léman. Colourful window boxes enhance the setting and you could sit there - mesmerised - for hours, even if the cuisine wasn’t as good as it is. Traditional specialities of the region feature strongly on the menus, including of course today’s catch from the lake.
Within the creeper covered building, there is a comfy, club-style reading room and a few, equally well-appointed bedrooms. Some face the village but the best are those with a terrace overlooking the lake. The decor, appropriately pale blue and natural pine, creates a particularly restful ambience. Bathrobes and slippers suggest that this is no bog-standard three-star – more of an hotel run by a family who really care. They also own the four-star Villa Cécile (heated pool and spa) just up the road.
Yvoire itself is the most delightfully picturesque ‘village fleuri’ on the southern shore of Lake Geneva. Proximity to the big city can make for jam-packed summer weekends but even then the appeal somehow remains. Steamers call at the jetty before sailing across the narrow lake to Switzerland; from Nyon, there is a rail connection direct to Geneva airport so car hire is not necessary.