How to Find Intern Housing in Geneva

When I lived and worked in Geneva (French: Genève, German: Genf), the first thing that I noticed was how clean the city was. You are in luck if you will be coming to Geneva in the summer. You will be able to appreciate the beautiful geography (the lakes, mountains), fun cultural events, fair weather, and the company of the many other interns in the city.

Now you need a place to stay. Some important things to know before you get started...

Geneva, the capital of the eponymous canton and republic of Geneva, is French-speaking, being the largest city in Romandy (the French speaking region of Switzerland). English is the primary working language in the UN organizations: so, while you may use English at work, be prepared to learn some conversational French to survive in grocery stores, buses, restaurants, etc. I also recommend using it when responding to classifieds/listings written in French (more on this below): it is a basic form of etiquette!

The currency of Switzerland is the Swiss Franc, abbreviated CHF (1$ ~ 0.90CHF, 1 Mar 2012). You may also encounter Euros if you decide to live just across the border in France or in the French-sovereign jurisdictions of Greater Geneva.

Now that you know a bit more about the city, the following guide will hopefully help you find a place to stay during your internship/studies. Cheers and enjoy your time in Geneva!

• Start early! Every year, interns are surprised that a month or two before starting work, most places in Geneva have already been booked.


• Stay positive. It may be tough, but with patience and effort, you will have a place to stay in no time!


• Be polite and respectful of cultural and language differences. If you see a posting/listing for a vacancy in French, respond in French (certainly admit you don't speak it fluently, if you don't, but they will appreciate the gesture).


• Always be careful. There are many scammers out there looking to prey on desperate foreigners.


• Know what your price range is and what makes (common) sense. Anything under 500chf per month should be viewed much more suspiciously, while anything over 2000chf may be out of range. The "sweet" spot is 700 - 1000 chf per month.


• Do always check how far away your future home in Geneva will be from work. You can easily calculate bus travel times on the city's official site www.tpg.ch (Google Maps unfortunately is often not very accurate for Geneva public transport)


• Never wire or transfer money before arriving or seeing the place in person. Someone asking you to send money upfront via Western Union is virtually always a scammer.


• Avoid charity cases ("I am a single father of three and a missionary in Nigeria, so I need to rent this to you") and landlords-in abstentia ("Oh, I live in London but I randomly have a Geneva apt"). Scam alert!


• Avoid Craigslist and expatriates.com. These two websites, in my experience, have been nearly all scams/fraudulent postings. Few native residents use these sites anyways...


• Avoid those with emails that don't sound like personal accounts. loue1chambre@gmail.com ("rent1room@gmail") is a notorious example. Try to talk to potential landlords or roommates, etc. who sound like real people. It's a first line defense but will save you time/heartache.

The foyer (or "residence") would be the intern (or student)'s best friend, given how affordable it is (some rooms can be as cheap as 350chf per month), if it weren't were for the fact that many of the foyers will be completely full before the summer even starts!

Foyers are essentially like dorms, and you will get an experience not unlike living on campus at college. Very student-friendly, foyers usually also feature a communal area and a dining hall that may serve one or two meals a day. While you may be able to find a single room with private bathroom, most rooms in foyers share a hall (or other type of shared) bathroom. Thus, another advantage is the ability to meet people outside of your particular office; by the very nature of this type of living arrangement, they are generally known to be quite international and diverse.

To book a room in a foyer, some people recommend calling or emailing well in advance, in the neighborhood of 6-9 months. While there may be last-minute cancellations, and it certainly doesn't hurt to inquire, you will have a much higher success rate if you start earlier. Another pro of the foyers is that they are generally well-located, either in the center of the city (centre ville) or near the international organizations.

There are roughly 25 foyer in Geneva, including a few female-only ones. (NB: An acquaintance who stayed in a female-only foyer found that it was much more stately than the co-ed options, with the caveat that some, run by nuns, can be stricter on curfew and "guests"). You can find lists of all of these online. Some of the better known foyers include:

• Cité Universitaire de Genève


• Centre universitaire catholique


• Centre universitaire protestant 1 & Centre universitaire protestant 2


• Foyer international Saint-Justin


• Foyer George Williams


• Centre international réformà John Knox (close to UN, WHO)


• (female-only) Résidence l'Accueil


• (female-only) Foyer international pour jeunes filles

You may really want a private room or sublet, for personal reasons. Or you may have just realized all of the foyers are now full. In either scenario: finding a sublet in Geneva can be hit-or-miss. You may be lucky and find the perfect place on the first try... or on the 999th.

It is considerably more difficult to try to get a sublet while you're abroad versus actually in Geneva. Why? Landlords will want to meet you in person, receive the deposit in person, and possibly also see a copy of your letter of employment/internship. That is why many recommend staying temporarily in a hotel or hostel (see below for more details), so that you can spend the first few days running around the city to nail down that perfect sublet.

Where to start your sublet search? First, be sure to canvass your personal, school, religious, or community connections. Do you have any family members (or friends of family) that live in Geneva that may have a spare room? Are there any alumni of your university or school in Geneva? Some churches or missionary programs also are able to connect you with their colleagues abroad.

Second, be sure to ask your employer. Most international organizations will have an internal classifieds and/or housing board. This is a very safe option as only employees can post on it (which means most of the listings will be legitimate). Ask if you can post a wanted ad or have forwarded some of the recent listings.

Third, look for listings on reputable sites, such as: Glocals (expat forum) and Geneva Interns Network. These won't be 100% free of scams, but you will have a much higher likelihood of finding legit listings. Also, see if there are any relevant Facebook groups: departing interns will occasionally let you know their flat is newly available! (NB: unfortunately, a very useful housing classifieds list run by the University of Geneva was recently limited to UNIGE students/ID holders.)

How to contact? Most postings will provide either a phone number and/or an email address. In your email, you should briefly introduce yourself (your name? university/institution?), why you will be in Geneva (where will you work/study?), and when you expect to arrive and leave. I personally would reply to listings in French, if they are written in French, if only because you will be more likely to be considered. You can certainly tell them you're not fluent, but they may look more favorably on you: it's basic etiquette, anyhow, even if us English-speakers like to think everyone does/should speak our language. :)

Note on living outside of Geneva: There are pros and cons for living outside of the city center. Ferney-Voltaire is a popular destination for expats working at the UN/WHO, because it is close to the UN organizations (by the F bus). Since it is also on the French "side," the currency is euros and many say it's slightly cheaper for groceries, etc. Just remember to always bring your passport if you do live on the French side, so you don't get detained when the bus crosses the border. Some other interns I knew lived in neighboring towns up the Lake, including Nyon. You will take the above-ground commuter rail into Geneva. Sometimes, the transit time was exactly the same or faster than for those of living in "Geneva-proper." The only disadvantage is trains leaving the city of Geneva become less frequent at night and other off-peak hours, so you may have less flexibility than those living with access to night buses, etc.

Finally, you may be staying in Geneva for less than a month (ruling out foyers and sublets), looking for a temporary place to crash while you look for "real"/more permanent housing, or budget may not be an issue (hey, always a possibility). In this case, you may want to look to stay in a hotel or in its more affordable variant, the hostel.

The best place to look is the official Geneva tourism site as well as your standard travel guides, Google, etc. The most popular hostel that I know of in Geneva is the City Hostel, which is near the main train station (Gare Cornavin) and fairly affordable. As noted earlier about Ferney-Voltaire, there are affordable hotel options across the border on the French side as well. And of course, there is the Four Seasons... :)

Voilà. Hope by the end of this, you have found a place to stay during your internship or studies in Geneva. Definitely take advantage of your time in Geneva to explore the city, Switzerland, and Europe more generally. Geneva sits at the heart of Europe, with France, Germany, and Italy quickly accessible by planes or trains. Low-cost airline Easyjet also flies out of Geneva, opening up even more possibilities. Another thing to note: trains in Switzerland are known for being very efficient, running frequently and on time. Zurich and Lugano are fun for day trips/weekend getaways.

If you found this helpful, do click "Like this Lens" at the top of the page and share with others who might find it useful as well. And if you have any lingering comments or questions, feel free to post below or contact me.

A votre santé!

N.B. First image source http://law.shu.edu. All other images are my own.
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