Rivage Hôtel & Spa, Annecy: What's Included and Which Room to Ask For

The spa is the reason to choose this over a cheaper base in the old town, and unusually the inclusion is unambiguous: the hotel states that access to the aquatic area and the fitness room is included in the room rate for residents. Treatments are separate and need booking ahead, which in practice means before you travel during summer weekends.

It is a genuinely large facility rather than a pool with a sauna attached — roughly 1,000 m², with a 16-metre pool, two saunas, a hammam, a cold plunge, a jacuzzi, a children's pool and an outdoor terrace, plus a 146 m² gym and a 60 m² relaxation room with a salt wall. That scale is what separates it from most hotel spas in the region.

Opening hours run 09:00 to 21:00 every day, but the aquatic area is adults-only for the last ninety minutes. If you are travelling with children, that closes off the window most families would otherwise use after dinner, and it is worth planning the day around.

Choosing your room

Request: A third-floor Executive, or a Deluxe or Privilège suite, if the lake is what you came for. Book spa treatments before arrival — the pool and gym are included but treatments are not, and they require advance booking.

Avoid: Non-lake categories if the view matters to you — they face the mountains or the town, which is pleasant but is not what you are paying the lakefront premium for. Also avoid planning a family swim after 19:30, when the aquatic area becomes adults-only.

View: Lake-facing categories are the Executive rooms on the third floor, the Deluxe and Privilège suites, and the Penthouse with its 115 m² terrace. Everything else looks toward the mountains or over Annecy itself.