I am having the same trouble, Christian!  I think it might just be easier to be "sur place."  It is a bit stressful, but I'm hopeful something will work out.  (It has to, right? :)) 

I would be grateful for suggestions other people have as well.  Where are the decent hostels, for example? How much can one expect to pay for a night?  The Cité Universitaire de Genève had temporary stays, with internet access and seems to be in a good location.  Other hostels that I found had limits on the number of days or were full on certain days.

Good luck in your search, Christian!

Hi Christian,

How long do you need an apartment in Geneva for?  My fiance used to live in Prevessin-Moens France, 5 min. from the Geneva airport, and now he needs to quickly find someone to rent his place because he is here in the States now.

If you are interested I have photos of the house and all the information posted under the classifieds section of glocals.  Check it out!

Good luck with your apartment search!

Kristen

You should definitely be here while looking for an apartment. Lots of people have been scammed just because they thought that here everybody is honest and nice.... ;-) Do not accept any rental unless you've seen the place. Photos can look much nicer than the reality... and you don't want to be stuck with something ugly.

So, I would look for temporary accommodation - but count with 1 or 2 MONTHS, not weeks. I live in Geneva, have a job here and I'm Swiss - and it took me over a month to find a flat, and only with extreme luck. Of course if you're happy to rent a room in a shared flat it might be easier, and of course your budget can make a big difference.

There are several studio hotels here but the only one that comes to my mind is Studio House Acacias. It's very central. There have been similar discussions on this forum, so you might want to do a search to find more info.

When you arrive to Geneva, the thing you will want to do is networking. Meet as many people as you can - at your job, on glocals - and make sure everybody knows that you're looking for a flat. Most flats are never advertised anywhere, it's people looking for a new tenant who send out e-mails to their workmates and friends, who pass on those e-mails to other friends. You will definitely have to be VERY active and VERY fast. I checked advertising sites every morning and anwered promptly. For me the most useful sites were the classifieds section in glocals, immoscout24 and immostreet. Do not use any of the expat sites (easyexpat etc), they're full of scams.

If you don't speak French all this will be very confusing and even more difficult, and maybe help from a relocation agency would be useful (but I don't know anything about those agencies...).

Thanks for the advice!

I am afraid it did not make me more optimistic about finding a place, but I guess I just have to keep on trying.

Christian

Hi ...try to get in touch with these guys, thats how i got my apartment...(after 3 months of frantic searching)

The Geneva Welcome Centre
La Pastorale
Route de Ferney 106
Case postale 103
CH 1211 GENEVE 20
t +4122 546 14 00
f +4122 546 14 19
[email protected]
[email protected]>

Thanks! I just sent them an e-mail now.

Hi all, 

I am in the same situation. I am arriving in Geneva on September 1 as well. I plan to stay at a hotel for the first month and look for apartments. 

I will keep you updated on my experiences.

Hans

can anyone recomenned good websites (in any language) which advertise rooms in shared flats?

glocals.org

http://www.easywg.ch/ I used it two years ago and it worked for me. Good luck!

Hei Christian,

og velkommen til Geneve om ikke lenge. Som nordmann er det hyggelig å se andre nordmenn komme hit :)

Et tips ; jeg har hørt det kan ta 3-4 måneder å finne noe i Geneve sentrum, så hadde jeg vært deg så hadde jeg også sett over franske grensen da leilighetene er billigere og bedre standard for samme sum samt at det kun er 15 min med bil fra midt i Geneve sentrum. Det er som å bo på Røa if forhold til Oslo sentrum.

Si ifra om du trenger at jeg sender deg noen linker.

Lykke til !

Elisabeth

hi are you still looking for share apartement ? i have empty room available 1st of september

Hi Jojo!

I am looking for a room starting September, when I will be working in Geneva.  If still available, please let me know as soon as you an here or at edizen at hotmail dot com

Thanks very much

Eugene!

Hi,

I actually have to leave Geneva for some time, and am subletting my appartment starting 1st of September.

It is in Charmilles, close to the center and to the UN orgs (a bus brings you there in a few minutes).

- Room with balcony

- Living room

- small room with either an additional bed or an office

- Kitchen

- Bathroom

Appartment is furnished.

Price is 2400 CHF per month + charges (water, gas, internet, etc.)

contact me by email if you are interested! I am organizing visits this week.

[email protected]

Hi,

I'm also looking for a room or together with a friend for two rooms or a flat in Geneva, starting Sept for up until Feb next year.

If someone can help, let me know anne.ellersiek at gmail.com

Thanks,

Anne

Hi Christian,                                                                                                     Hi everyone,

I also have a new job in Geneva, and thus I am searching for an apartment as well. At this point I am living & working in the Netherlands. But starting 1 November I need housing in Geneva... Due to my present work, and a vacation during September, it will be difficult for me as well to go to Geneva beforehand to search/visit apartments personally.

From others I also got some tips for Internetsites (some are already mentioned over here), next to of course the glocals  website ;-) :            

Geneva Welcome Centre                  www.immoscout24.ch                                                                             www.worldradio.ch                                                                www.homestpierre.ch (only for girls)                                             www.immostreet.ch                                                                          www.gerpar.ch (furnished studios/apartments for several months)

Perhaps this helps? Of course I am open for suggestions as well... And Christian, I like to hear your experiences. It might be that you already found something when I arrive...

All the best! And good luck with searching...

Petra

hi

http://www.abordier.ch/

and click on locations.

Good luck!

Hi,

I'm leaving in Lausanne ,and looking for a flat in Geneva, close to the train station, if somebody want to swap.

Let me know

a) NEVER try sous-location (not v official thing, when you deal straight with landlord. all depends on personal. if there are some troubles, you will end up without deposit like me one time :(( ) also they got prices higher than via regie

b) regie will ask for thousands of documents, but it's ok. also better to choose smth without furniture

Good luck in hunting! :)