La Réserve Eden au Lac Zurich

Character and identity

A lakeside fixture since 1909, the Eden au Lac has been thoroughly reworked under Michel Reybier's La Réserve banner and now reads as something altogether more playful. Philippe Starck's interiors riff on what he calls "an imaginary yacht club": mid-century lines warmed up with wood, chrome and nautical cues, plus mirrored bathrooms that flirt with both Versailles and Studio 54. The ground floor belongs to a bright all-day restaurant and bar, with a hidden fumoir tucked behind an unmarked door and a DJ booth in play. Forty rooms, a rooftop restaurant and a cellar cigar lounge complete the picture, and service runs in the polished La Réserve register.

Who's it for

Bottom line

What you're really buying is Starck's reimagined yacht-club fantasy on the edge of Lake Zürich, and the atmosphere it generates downstairs. Rooms differ mainly by size, so stretch for one of the larger lake-facing categories, where daylight ricochets off the water and the Alps shimmer from the balcony. Anything smaller and you miss half the point.