Festive meals

If you’re in a Swiss city over the holidays, and decide you’d like to eat out on Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, New Year’s Eve or January 1, you may be feeling like splurging and want to go to a top-rated gastronomic restaurant. Then you discover that most are closed during the holiday season - excluding the ones in hotels, but…a hotel restaurant?

Point One: A negative ‘hotel restaurant’ perception is starting to be passé anywhere - and remember that in Switzerland some of the best restaurants bar none have always been in hotels. Point Two: during the holiday season many offer special set-price menus for everything from brunch to a gala evening, and these events are beloved of a Swiss clientele!

We’ve selected a few options.

Geneva: Il Lago at the Four Seasons des Bergues is sumptuous not only for its décor but for its haute Italian cuisine. They offer several options (lunch, dinner, gala) both for Christmas and New Year, www.fourseasons.com/geneva

Lausanne: Several of the restaurants in the Lausanne Palace offer mouthwatering French cuisine suggestions, check them out at www.lausanne-palace.com

Montreux: They have a Christmas Day Brunch - but they also have a whole Christmas Spirit package if you feel like a  night at the hotel, and relaxing at their Willow Stream Spa after checking out Switzerland’s best Christmas market (in Montreux - until December 28, 2008). More at www.fairmont.com/montreux

Zurich: Two of the best options are the Baur au Lac, for French-based grandeur,  www.bauraulac.ch; and the Storchen,  www.storchen.ch - the location of their Rotisserie overlooking the Limmat River adds to the memorable experience.