Practical Information

IFSW General Meeting, Geneva, Switzerland, 10-12 July 2002

To IFSW Member organisations, IFSW Executive Committee and IFSW Representatives

Welcoming you to Geneva and the IFSW General Meeting 2002, we herewith present you with some practical information. We ask you kindly to note that IFSW cannot act as a travel agent and that you need to book your own hotel arrangement. We will in the following give some advice on recommended hotels in different price categories.

Coming to Geneva

Geneva Airport is 5 km from the City Centre. There is a direct train service from the airport to the City centre with 200 (!!!!) trains a day. The train ride takes six minutes. You should buy your ticket at the station and not onboard the train. At the central railway station in the city centre you have easy access to bus and tram services. A taxi form the airport to the city centre will cost 25.00 –35.00 Swiss francs (16.00 to 22.00 US Dollars).

Currency

At present, 1.00 Swiss franc is equivalent to 63 US cents or 68 Euro cents.
Even if you at many places can pay in Euros, it is a better deal to change to Swiss Francs, as the exchange rate is better in the bank than in shops, restaurants, hotels etc.

Language

French is the official language of Geneva, but most people will also speak German and English.

The General Meeting

is taking place from July 10 at 2:00pm (14:00) until the late afternoon of July 12, and will be held in room V (Five) at the office of the International Labour Organization (ILO) (In French: BIT or Bureau International de Travail). You can get there by taking bus No. 8 from the Central Railway Station in the direction of OMS (Organisation mondiale de la santé). World Health Organization,WHO, in English). You leave the bus at a stop called BIT after having passed the United Nations headquarters for Europe, Palais des Nations. The bus ride is taking approximately 15 minutes. The ILO building is the big construction in the park to the left. You have to pay the ticket with Swiss coins at the bus stop before entering the bus.

Regional Meetings

We have been informed that the European region will arrange a Delegates Meeting July 10 from 12:30pm to 2:00pm. This meeting will be held at the same venue as the General Meeting. More information will no doubt be sent from the European region. The ILO building include many spots where you can gather a small group of people. If other regions should want to arrange a pre-meeting.

Social program

We are co-operating with the Swiss Association of Social Workers to provide a social program. We expect a reception for the General Meeting to be held July 10 at 7:00pm (19:00) on a boat on the Lake of Geneva, and a tour of the city to be offered July 13 in the morning.

Hotel accommodation

As stated above, you will have to make your own booking of accommodation in Geneva. The small IFSW-Secretariat will not be in a position to take on role as a booking centre in addition to all the work connected with a General Meeting. We have, however, made a list of possible alternatives, which you will find below and you will also find information about more hotels - 5 stars, 4 stars, 3 stars, 2 stars, 1 star, Country Inns, Apartment Houses, Youth Accommodation and Campings at the website of Genève Tourisme www.geneve-tourisme.ch. Your travel agency where you book you ticket will probably also be able to help you finding a suitable place to stay.

Main hotels

The two specially selected hotels are

HOTEL EDEN***
135, rue de Lausanne, 1202 Genève
Tél. +41 22 716 37 00, Fax +41 22 731 52 60
Web: www.eden.ch
E-mail: eden@eden.ch
The IFSW President and the Secretariat will stay at this hotel.

HOTEL MON REPOS ***
131, rue de Lausanne, 1202 Genève
Tél. +41 22 909 39 09, Fax +41 22 909 39 93
Web: www.hmrge.ch
E-mail: reservations@hmrge.ch

Hotel Eden and hotel Mon-Repos are situated next to each other, quite close to the international organisations. A single room starts at 170.00-175.00 Swiss francs, breakfast included. A double starts at 210.00 – 225.00 Swiss francs.

To get to these hotels, take bus No. 4 from the central Railway Station in the direction of Jardin Botanique and leave at Mines. To get to the ILO take bus No. 11 from Jardin Botanique in the direction of Gare Eaux-Vives and leave at the first stop Nation, change to Bus No. 8 in the direction of OMS and leave at BIT.

If these hotels should be complete, or you want a more central location, we recommend

HOTEL LE MONTBRILLANT****
2, Rue de Montbrillant, 1201 Geneva
Tel (41) 22 733 77 84, Fax (41) 22 733 25 11
Web: www.montbrillant.ch
E-mail: contact@montbrillant.ch
This hotel is located next to the railway station. A single room starts at 145.00 Swiss francs, breakfast included. A double starts at 210.00 Swiss francs. See information under the headline General Meeting for bus transport to ILO.

If you want a five-star hotel, we recommend

HOTEL LES ARMURES*****
1, rue du Puits-Saint-Pierre, 1204 Geneva
Tel (41) 22 310 91 72 Fax (41) 22 310 98 46
Web: www.hotel-les-armures.ch
E-mail: armures@span.ch
This hotel is located in the beautiful old city. A single room starts at 320.00 Swiss francs, breakfast included. A double starts at 450.00 Swiss francs. To get here take tram No. 16 from the railway station in direction of Moillesulaz and leave at Hotel-de-Ville. See information under the headline General Meeting for bus transport to ILO.

A budget alternative is

HOTEL LUSERNA *
12, avenue de Luserna, 1203 Genève
Tél. +41 22 345 45 45, Fax +41 22 344 49 36
Web: www.hotel-luserna.ch
E-mail: info@hotel-luserna.ch
Single room with bath/shower/WC: 125.00 Swiss Francs
Double room with bath/shower/WC: 150.00 Swiss Francs
Single room without private bath/shower/WC: 75.00 Swiss francs
Double room without private bath/shower/WC: 100 Swiss Francs
Continental breakfast included
The hotel is situated between the City Centre and the international organisations. To get there from the railway station, take bus No. 3 (Direction Champ-d"Anier) 9 (Direction CERN or Gare Zimeysa), 10 (Direction Aeroport) or 29 (Direction Meyrin) to Servette.
You can also take bus 10 (Direction Gare Cornavin) directly form the airport. To get to the ILO, take bus no. 11 in direction Jardin Botanique, leave at Nations and change to bus No. 8 in direction of OMS, leave at BIT.

Home Hospitality

The Swiss Association of Social Workers have provided a limited number of home hospitality options. If you are interested, please let us know.

Yours sincerely,

Tom Johannesen, Secretary General
International Federation of Social Workers (IFSW)
Postfach 6875, Schwarztorstrasse 20
CH-3001 Berne
Switzerland
Tel (41) 31 382 6015
Fax (41) 31 381 1222
E-mail: secr.gen@ifsw.org