My sentiment of the Royal Hotel Lausanne went from 100% to exactly 50%/50% in just two weeks.

Yes, this gorgeous hotel, seemingly previously haunted mansion has some definite charms and some room for improvement. Let’s cycle back to mid-September when the sky was blue and you could enjoy dining al fresco– this hotel was a dime.

My first Friday post quarantine I enjoyed two glasses of Tattinger in a prime seat of the Sky Lounge. Perfection. Make sure to arrive early if you’re going to attempt a feat like this.

Next, I enjoyed my reservation at the Brasserie Royal Savoy. I had an excellent meal, kind and attentive (maybe even flirtatious) service. The vibe was refined, relaxed, and overlooked the Pentaque games below.

Also, the bread, butter, an salt in the lovliest urchin ceramic started the evening off right.

As I’ve dined here twice now, I have enjoyed the exact same meal both times. The initial visit was perfect, the second was stuffy and unspecial. Here, times two as the French say, I had ‘the artichokes of my childhood memories.’ An incredible name for a dish, that said dish managed to live up to- very impressive.

For the plat, again twice now, was the octopus with perfectly cooked veggies and a dots of a black garlic sauce. Again, perfection.

Unfortunately, both visits I skipped dessert. The first, because the flirtations were overwhelming so I just bolted. The second because it wasn’t offered and just didn’t feel right in the stuffy dining room. The staff was kind but not overly so as they were on the terrace. They did alert me that I’d asked to end my life, not my meal, but only because I asked about my verb usage – je termine vs je suis termine if you will. Meh, this second trip was luckily my second as it did not have me wanting more. Not to mention the beyond terrible martini and service of the lobby bar. No thanks, won’t try this stunt again. Bonne Channe, Brasserie Savoy.

In other fancy hotels of Lausanne news, I did try the Beau Rivage for a pre-dinner drink. She was very pretty, very old school, but not really my vibe.

As you wish. Glad to have been able to do all of this, truly. However, even more so to be on to the next one and find my fun special occasion spots in the world. Merci, Lausanne.