The Over 30 Girly's Edit

Hello, fellow hotel lovers, travelers, or simply curious readers!

I promise I won’t be talking about our Switzerland much more, but I did want to dedicate a separate blog post to the Mandarin Oriental hotels. Having seen them everywhere when searching for “where to stay in [insert city]” and on many lists of “best hotels in [insert city]”, we were intrigued by this hotel brand. However, as creatures of habit, and going back to what we know, we normally choose to stay at a Four Seasons hotel if one is available in the city we’re visiting. We made a mistake by staying elsewhere when the Four Seasons was literally next door to what was supposedly the best hotel on that island; it was a hard lesson to learn, for sure. (IYKYK)

Now, this trip to Switzerland was exciting, besides the fact that this country was pretty much brand new to all of us. My husband had visited it once when he was nine years old, and he didn’t remember much. Another exciting reason was that, besides Geneva, there was no other Four Seasons hotel in the country. This meant we were forced to choose other hotel brands, as Geneva was not on the itinerary. Lucky for me, the Mandarin Oriental has two hotels in the cities we visited. I say lucky because I really wanted to have some Asian familiarity to fall back on in a very European country, such as Switzerland, and I am talking about food.

First Impressions

The first hotel of the brand we stayed at was the Mandarin Oriental Savoy, Zurich. It’s located in the center of Zurich, close to the shopping street and the Old Town, which is very convenient. However, I’m very torn about our first impressions of this hotel. I really wanted to love it, because I had such a good indirect impression with the team through an email thread with them a couple of weeks before arriving to arrange a surprise for my husband and step-son’s joint birthday celebration. The team was responsive and super eager to create a memorable time for them. In addition, we got picked up at the airport by their staff in a nice S-class Mercedes car and a very friendly driver. She talked to us about our trip and pointed out some cool spots around the city and near the hotel. We’ve been picked up by many hotels before, and this interaction was perhaps the most insightful and welcoming thus far (we’ve had some phenomenal car rides, so this is pretty highly regarded).

Unfortunately, the disappointment began as soon as we checked in, and it only worsened from there. Toby had a separate chat thread with them (in addition to my email thread) about upgrading to a corner suite to provide us with more room during our stay, at an additional charge. Assuming everything was confirmed and handled, we got the confirmation via chat from one of their representatives. However, when we checked in, it wasn’t updated in the system, and the corner suite was no longer available for the two nights we had booked. Having flown into the city after 12-13 hours of travel, I definitely had no interest in waiting until 5-6 pm to check into the corner suite for one night, and then changing back to the junior suite for the second night. Truthfully, I had no problem with the junior suite we ended up with, as it was quite spacious for the three of us. I think the fact that the request wasn’t followed through, even though it was after the confirmation on the chat, might be one of the biggest no-nos with customer service at this caliber. A mistake we had never encountered with the Four Seasons hotels before.

That’s not all, and I may start sounding like the most spoiled and arrogant guest here, with complaint after complaint. Still, as I mentioned earlier, the hotel staff and I had an email thread going on with some surprises for Toby and the young boy’s birthdays, so I was looking forward to … surprising them. As agreed upon, I informed them to set up the room, provided our dinner time at a restaurant off the property, and turned on the “Clean Room” button in the room as an additional flag for the housekeeping team. I then tried my best to prevent Toby from ordering dessert without giving out any details, knowing he loved having a little sweet treat after dinner. Returning to the room with nothing ready, and with a minimal turndown service that had not included a sofa bed setup, was particularly disappointing, especially since it was clear that they had somehow forgotten, and it was also evident that the staff were tired human beings. We called to get the sofa bed brought up, and when the housekeeping team entered our room, I could tell they felt very sorry and panicked based on their expressions. I looked at them, they looked at me, and we were all panicked because we knew what was up. A few minutes later, they came back to the room to bring the cake up, which I understood and felt sorry for them. It was unfortunate that it didn’t go as planned, and I was sad, too. I definitely am not holding this against them, because the cake was lovely, and they did come back the second night to set up the room with balloons and more cake. I just think that overall, in terms of service and guest experience, they may be a bit behind their competitor, Four Seasons.

The Hotels

Now, we have only stayed at two of their many hotels around the world, so I can’t say for sure what the majority of them would look like, but these two are stunning. The MO Savoy is relatively smaller than MO Lucerne, but both are adorned with marble bathrooms and feature beautiful, different shades of green throughout the hotels, complemented by stunning details. Due to its smaller space, the MO Savoy property feels cramped in its common areas, including the main lobby, lobby lounge, and gym. Side note: Savoy’s gym floor was very slippery, as if there was a layer of wax on the floor at all times. We had to walk on our sneakers at a very slow pace because if we hadn’t, we would have slipped and fallen. Hopefully, someone is reading this and can correct the surface of the floor, unless there is a reason for it to be that way, which seems very strange. In addition, the gym can definitely be improved, perhaps with newer equipment and a bit more space for the free weights area, rather than having the weight and floor sections overlap, which made no sense and wasted space.

Junior Suite room at the MO Savoy property in Zurich

The winning property of the two has to be the MO Lucerne, and that’s an unfair statement because how could you beat Lucerne scenery and location? Right on the lake, it has the perfect view of Lake Lucerne and Mount Pilatus. The hotel is actually an older hotel called Palace Hotel Luzern, built between 1904 and 1906. After numerous renovations and changes in management, it reopened in September 2022 under the Mandarin Oriental brand. The newly renovated design retains many of the hotel’s marble columns and incorporates new details that complement its history. The easiest to identify is their tile flooring. Some of its common rooms have been relocated, and hotel guests can learn more about it at the exhibition located within the hotel. Staying true to the brand, their different shades of green are featured throughout the hotel, and the combination of green and coral marble creates a calming yet high-class environment.

I must say that the consistency in their beautiful MO hotel designs surpasses that of the Four Seasons hotels. It’s not that it’s the same everywhere at MO hotels; there are some distinct differences between the two we stayed at. However, at the same time, I’m fairly certain I could spot a MO just by being inside the hotel, without having to see the infamous fan logo. With the Four Seasons, yes, their brand identity is consistently represented in every hotel under the brand (especially with the bathrooms, which are largely identical across most city hotels in the United States). However, I will give MO the design bonus point here, if we’re keeping score.

In Lucerne, we booked the Lake View Suite; the room was spacious, and again, spectacularly designed. As the suite name suggests, the view to Lake Lucerne was out of the world, from both the salon and the primary bedroom.

Bonus point: I’ve stayed at many hotels with Dyson hairdryers, but with a whole set of hairdryer and hair straightener, this was the first.

Very different from the Savoy property, this Lucerne one has a great gym, with newer machines (than the Savoy’s), ample space for free weights and floor workouts, and its floor wasn’t sticky! Although I went for a run on both days while we were there, it was very helpful for me to use as a warm-up and also for a quick strength training session.

The Culinary Offerings

As I mentioned at the beginning, I was pleased to have stayed at the MO hotels during this trip, as it was part of my contingency plan for food emergencies. In the event that I couldn’t eat Swiss food (cheese and cream – hello, lactose-intolerant me), at least we stayed at an Asian hotel! And I was not disappointed – even though the Swiss food options, at least in these two big cities, were very diverse, we did dine at the hotels a few times. The beef congee at MO Savoy, located on the premises, was truly delicious, to the point where I requested two bowls. At MOZern, the main restaurant at MO Lucerne, they offered an international menu featuring Korean chicken wings, mandu dumplings, and duck egg rolls – all of which were very good. Their focaccia bread, pork chops, half-roasted chicken, and cheeseburger were all delicious, so surely anyone with a different palate would be pleased there. Oh, don’t sleep on their spritz menu – so very good, so very Euro summer vibes.

Final Thoughts

Overall, I did adore our stays there. It’s reassuring to know that there’s another option to consider besides our beloved Four Seasons. However, in this market of luxury hotels, I keep saying this, but the Four Seasons has mastered its exceptional customer service to the point that I can overlook other details; in some cases, it may not be as new or as attractive compared to other luxury hotels in the same city. You come back because you know the high standards they uphold themselves to; it reflects in all of our experiences with the Four Seasons brand. Unfortunately for the MO Savoy, they missed it at the very first few interactions with us. However, they did reach out later to express their apologies and address the communication discrepancy. They may have had a hand in informing their MO sister hotel in Lucerne about the birthday celebration, as we received some additional treats towards the end of our trip, which I truly appreciated. I think the approach they took to addressing the feedback and trying to make it right speaks loudly, and because of that, we will definitely stay with them again on a future trip.

Side note: the Four Seasons beds are still the best to sleep on. I know I sound like a broken record now, but ask anyone who knows, and they would agree.