Seerose Resort & Spa

Behind the unconventional is a hotel with something of a split personality. Here just outside the village of Meisterschwanden, alongside Lake Hallwil in north central Switzerland, is what’s really two hotels in one: Seerose Elements, a high-design contemporary-style boutique hotel, and Seerose Classic, which is something a bit more, well, classic, a rustic lodge of the kind you’d fully expect to find here, in the middle of a nature reserve on the shore of a photogenic Swiss lake.

Three of Elements’ four stories are dedicated to three of the ancient elements: Earth, Air and Water, with the fourth quite understandably omitted. All are decorated in smart modern style and a color scheme that’s appropriately earthy, airy, et cetera. Meanwhile over in Classic it’s all old-world elegance, with rustic hardwoods everywhere. Category B rooms have at least partial lake views, while Category A+ pulls out all the stops, with balconies, frontal views, and in some cases four-poster beds and whirlpool baths. Two hotels means two approaches to dining, the stylish Samui-Thai and the classically European Restaurant Seerose, plus a lakeside bar and a candlelit wine cellar. Best of all this lakeside idyll is just an hour from basically anywhere in Switzerland: Basel, Berne, Lucerne and Zürich.

How to get there:
There is train and bus service to Meisterschwanden and the hotel can arrange pick up and transfer with one day's notice.