| Finding
A Place To Stay In Geneva |
| A Guide
To English Resources |
| By Michele Ann Jenkins |
| Whether you're
a student or a diplomat, finding a place to stay in Geneva is difficult.
Finding a short term, affordable place to stay can be a time consuming
process. For non-French speakers, the effort is doubled. If that were not
enough, Geneva is currently in the middle of a horrible housing crunch.
That said, there are some on-line resources that might help you out.
The first is
'Welcome Geneva Center' (Centre d'Accueil Geneve) http://www.cagi.ch/.
They have an office near the Palais de Nations where you can sign up for
their list of available rooms and apartments. They are friendly and usually
have several English speakers on staff. They can also help with finding
school, doctors, and other local resources. |
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The next is
the World Radio Geneva Classifieds http://www.wrgfm.com/
(registration required), and English language site where people
post sublets, apartments, and rooms for rent. You might also try visiting
the bulletin boards at the UN offices and local universities, or posting
an ad yourself. Most UN staff takes at least one month of contract break
a year, so there are a lot of chances for house/apartment sitting.
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Finally, there
are the local papers such as Tribune de Geneve http://www.tdg.ch/accueil/petites_annonces/index.php?Page_ID=6189.
Even if your French is very basic the ads are not to difficult to decipher
with a dictionary and some patience. You may want to enlist the help
of Francophone friend to make the phone call. |
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| While you
are looking, or for stays of less than 6 months, there is always Studio
House Acacias, http://www.studiohouse.ch/
which rents small studios by the day, week, or month. Studios start at
60 CHF/night (US$45), with a discount on longer stays.
Extended
or Permanent Stays
For longer
or permanent stays, start with http://www.genevecentral.ch/regies.htm
which has a full list of
Geneva's "regies"--
Swiss rental agencies. Dealing directly with these agencies, whether you
are a fluent French speaker or non, can be very time consuming and frustrating.
If you can afford it, it is worth hiring someone to help with the communication
and paperwork. Some of the Swiss rental insurance agents can and will help
you with this-- once you have purchased insurance from them of course (the
rental insurance is required by law anyway). You will need to prove
that you are legally staying in Switzerland for an extended period of time. |
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Offshore
Resources Gallery
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| This can be
done by making copies of your Swiss Carte de Legitimation or a copy of
your contract and a letter from you employer (sometimes referred to
as an attestation). You will then need to make an appointment to visit
the regie during their office hours (usually 10am-noon and 2-4pm)
to fill out some forms. The final step in the process is actually meeting
the apartment or building owner. If you make it that far, there is a good
chance that the apartment is yours.
Each regie
will only accept one application at a time, and they have no obligation
to get back to you in a certain time frame-- if at all. Even if you are
the only person applying, friends with the current renter, or the current
president of the UN, plan for the approval process will take months. Once
you sign for the apartment you will be asked to create a bail account at
a Swiss bank where you will deposit 3-4 months rent in a trust account.Neither
you nor the regie can access this money until you both sign off on it after
you have moved out. The regie will do a "walk through" at the start
and end of your lease. Make sure they note any and all flaws in the apartment
no matter how small, or you will be charged for them when you move out.
To read Michelle's
article about how to find a job at the UN Click
Here |
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Article
Index ~ Switzerland
Index ~ |
