<p>My daughter is interning with a UN agency in Geneva for a month – the hitch is, she has to arrange her own accommodations. After much Googling and exploration, I have realized that Craigslist is not the place to find safe, cheap accommodations… and it looks like the best bet and only really affordable option for a single 20-year-old on her own is a “foyer” … which as far as I can tell is one step above a hostel and something like renting a single room in a dorm. </p>
<p>So now I’m wondering if any of you have had kids who have stayed in Foyers in Geneva – specifically I’d be interest in feedback about the St. Justin or Foyer international for young women (Foyer pour jeunes filles). (My maternal instincts tell me that the female-only place must be safe… if it isn’t, then what is? Fortunately, my d. also seems to think that looks like the best option so far).</p>
<p>mini, if you want to be her escort, I’d be delighted – after she is done with Geneva she is off to India, where I’m sure you would be a big help. Unfortunately, I’m not so sure that she would want a surrogate dad along. And I don’t think you would be welcome in the Foyer pour jeunes filles, unfortunately.</p>
<p>ucsd<em>ucla</em>dad, those links are for internships through college programs where the college has arranged the housing… it won’t help my d., who is on her own. For my d., this is entirely a self-created internship – she arranged it by emailing the agency she wanted to work for – so it is 100% on her shoulders to arrange living accommodations in both cities where she will be working. But I did key into the foyers by a similar google search, and through the miracle of Google maps I’ve even created a custom map that shows where each is located in relation to the agency where she will work.</p>
<p>I have not stayed in the foyers that you mention, but I stayed in the L’Accueil Foyer about 2 years ago and that was fine. We were there at the beginning of summer and it was very quiet in the foyer, almost intimidatingly so. I think this is probably true of most of the women-only foyers, whilst the mixed foyers seemed to have a more party atmosphere (and certainly S. Justin does) and more people who were on holiday rather than working. Generally, though, I think all the foyers are quite safe, as in Geneva as a whole, although when we visited people in other foyers the standard of accommodation seemed quite varied. I think I might have been to Foyer Internationale - is it one of the traditional old buildings, a bit folksy inside?</p>
<p>One thing to be aware of with the all-women foyers is that they are sometimes quite religious, and it depends how comfortable your daughter is in that atmosphere.</p>
<p>An alternative to the foyers would be to stay in the official university dorms, if the dates your daughter needs coincide with the summer vacation.</p>
<p>Those looked like independent accommodations that your D might be able to use. I just looked for what accommodations some colleges used since they tend to find convenient, safe, yet more affordable housing. Maybe they’d work for her even though she’s independent - </p>
<p>“mini, if you want to be her escort, I’d be delighted – after she is done with Geneva she is off to India, where I’m sure you would be a big help.”</p>
<p>Well, if you need India help, you know where to find it.</p>
<p>“And to think I spent my summers cleaning out chocolate vats in NJ.”</p>
<p>And I gave out orange juice to naked men in a steam room in the Catskills. (Hey, paid for college in those days…)</p>
<p>ucsd<em>ucla</em>dad --my daughter doesn’t have the money for the type of accommodations you were linking to. That looks great, but these UN internships are unfunded so d. is on a tight budget. </p>
<p>It has also turned out, unfortunately, that all of the foyers are booked full – she managed to get on some waitlists but she was starting to get very worried. She has now booked a week into a single room at a hostel, at my suggestion – (that was the most she could book) – it’s much more expensive than a foyer, but at least now she is sure she has a place. (The hostel looked o.k. and had a lot of traveler reviews posted up all over the internet). </p>
<p>We had a nice chat about how my d. tends to run with ideas without thinking over all of the ramifications … but of course that’s just one more life lesson.</p>
<p>Yeah, I checked the one link closer after I posted and it looked expensive. Maybe Georgetown students are rich. Europe’s expensive now and Switzerland is usually more expensive that most of Europe.</p>
<p>Calmom, my son traveled Europe last summer and Switzerland was his favorite place. There is a fairly new book “The Geography of Bliss” that lists Switzerland as the happiest country in the world. They have some odd social customs, but it is a well run city and the Chapter a good intro to the people. </p>
<p>He went everywhere without accomodations before hand, and Switzerland was a hard place to
find something, but they did.</p>
<p>According to the Geography of Bliss, the public bathrooms and trains are the best in the world - a last minute back up if needed!</p>
<p>S is going the opposite direction. From India to France and Europe, then to who knows where. He discovered that his old roommates and HS friend in UN-Amsterdam will not be able to meet him in Europe. He’s touring Europe and accommodations not critical but he would enjoy some company (his age, not yours).</p>
<p>hi calmom! i am in the exact same position! i am also a student undergrad, looking for accommodation for my internship at the WHO this summer. I had no idea it was this difficult to find! I’ve posted in lots of places like craigslist but paying a deposit before viewing is a little offputting to say the least! if i hear of any other ideas i’ll get back in touch</p>
<p>I will add my caution about craigslist. My S was looking for housing for an unpaid internship in Brussels for last fall. All but one of his craigslist contacts turned out to be from Nigeria–Google Nigerian scams and you will run away from these! He ended up going through a rental agency that was recommended by the company he was interning with. It wasn’t cheap but it worked out very well.</p>
<p>Not all craigslist listings are scam. S found great housing for an LA internship through craigslist.</p>
<p>D spent 10 days in Geneva in January at the start of her current semester abroad program. (From there she went to India for 5 weeks, is currently in China, and leaves tomorrow for So. Africa – but I digress.) In Geneva her group stayed at City Hostel. Is that the one your D is booked at, calmom? My D said it was fine – clean & comfortable. Of course she wasn’t there alone, which is a huge difference for your D.</p>
<p>I am female, and I did a summer internship in Lausanne (around 30 miles from Geneva) after my junior year of undergrad.</p>
<p>I lived at a bed & breakfast boarding house. There are tons of them around Lausanne, and I would be surprised if there weren’t tons in Geneva as well. I had a private, lockable room, and it was clean, comfortable, and affordable (only a little more expensive than the local hostel).</p>
<p>Depending on the dates of your daughter’s internship, maybe she could arrange to rent a room or housesit for a teacher in one of Geneva’s international schools. The teachers are often from other countries and go back home during the summer break.</p>
<p>A few years ago we had a young Canadian woman stay in our house here in Germany while we were gone for a summer and she was doing research nearby. She simply emailed our school principal and asked him to forward her email to faculty who might be traveling for the summer and would be interested in having a responsible housesitter. She took in our junk mail, watered my garden and houseplants, and paid for our normal housekeeper to come once at the end of her stay, but we did not charge anything since our rent is paid by my employer anyway.</p>