Not to depress or discourage you, but unless your rental budget is on par with what NASA reserves for housing astronauts in outer space, finding a place or a room in the 'best' area is going to be difficult. Seriously, Geneve is about as much fun as finding something nice in TriBeCa. 

Glocals and its classifieds is an excellent start for temp. housing, and I would leverage any and all contacts you have at the ILO. 

My opinion is that you should look for a place which is not too far away from your job or at least along the bus line which leads you to your office. Consequentely, i advise you to focus on Rive Droite (upper side of the city). I recommend the following areas : Grand-Saconnex, Petit-Saconnex, Grand-Pré, Vermont, Nations, some parts of Pâquis. Good luck with the search !

Another option would be to live just over the border [housing is less expensive and more available] on a bus route.

alex is correct, best find the areas that are close to your work location, ILO is close to Vermont, Servette, Nations. All very safe areas, not there really are dangerous areas. Paquis is very convenient for everything and centrally located next to train station. It is one of the more dynamic and active parts of the city. But further note that Geneva is nice, pretty, lovely summer lakeside, close location/Great for skiers, and quiet in general.

However, finding accomodation is not easy. Best just find a room to rent temporarily and when your on the ground, you will have the time to be able to find a more reasonable price location. One room is about CHF 1000 per month on average, Studio about same 1000-1200-.

check out

http://www.immostreet.ch/

http://www.immoscout24.ch

Also go to glocals forums, search rental or appartments or rooms and you will find many many forums discussion this issue.

Also look in the classified, but note that anything that is a mimimum filled requirements, will be taken up in a day.

Really wish you the best luck.

Petit Saconnex - Grand Pré is one of the nicest areas on the Rive Droite. A big parc and several supermarkets less than 3' walking

Hi,

also try:

https://www.facebook.com/appartementgeneve?fref=ts

and

www.anibis.ch french again

it's a page on facebook (( hope you're a member) in french( sorry) but with ads of appartments going in Geneva.

good luck

The best areas to live in Geneva are, under my humble opinion, Eaux-Vives and Plainpalais (...ok and Paquis).

As suggested in other posts, it might be better to live close to your work/uni place but hey, Geneva is a microscopic city and as you'll be moving with public transports (therefore "less" subject to the traffic jam), you will be wherever you need to be between 5 and 25 minutes max.

I wouldn't personally like to live anywhere close to Nations, Grand-Saconnex, Petit-Saconnex or Servette.

Maybe google map/street can be helpful to have an idea as well as the tpg.ch website (with the routes of public transports).

Good luck

Paquis - rue chaponniere 

Close to everthing, bus, trams and trains! Shopping, nighlife..3 mins to the lake- church, eating places and a nice walk across the bridge. And migros is open 7 days a week till 10pm! Thats a major plus!

Hi Sara,

Welcome to Geneva!

In case you're still in the search: in terms of public transport, I would recommend being close to bus 8 that takes you straight to ILO on the one side, and all the way by the old town up to Veyrier on the other side!

On that path, the quartiers Rive/Eaux-Vives would be the lively part, while Servette/Grottes would be closer to the ILO with lots of supermarkets and green.

Bonne chance.

Without a doubt, look for something in Ferney Voltaire or Ornex, France. You are physically closer to the ILO than most areas in Geneva (the ones close to the ILO are very expensive). There is a direct bus line that runs frequently, and you will be within walking distance to the French the supermarkets and other stores to which the Genevois flock to on weekends. Everything will be much cheaper (especially now, when the euro is falling): rent, food, restaurants, and the wine is better. It is surrounded by greeen spaces, and has the feel of a village. 

Look in a map at the location of the ILO and Ferney Voltaire and you will see. If you want the bustle of the city, you can get to downtown Geneva relatively fast by public transportation, with a direct line running by the ILO and into the center of Geneva. You will also probably find colleagues at the ILO who live there and with whom you can maybe make commuting arrangements. I have neighbors who go to work to the ILO or WHO in their bicycles from Ferney.

The best area according to me is Eaux-Vives. 

If you rent a 2 bedroom apartment, that would cost between 2400 to 2800.

So you can work out the rent for a room with that