Appenzell Area Lodging Suggestions

I stayed at the Hotel Adler in Appenzell, as would certainly recommend it. They serve breakfast also, so it's sort of a "B&B".

As I recall, it's easy to reach Wasserauen via Bus or Train, in order to reach Ebenalp. I preferred to stay in town as I wanted to attend one of the folk music performances (I quite enjoyed it). I believe this is the band that was performing at the time - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HdNZ8Pa03ko

As it happened, there was also an event in town for several days commemorating the burning of the town in 1560, so I got to see that too. It was a unique experience to see people wandering about in medieval costumes with Halberds and other weapons of the time.

Thank you Ken. Your response was helpful.

We just booked our first night there, so thanks again!
Karen

We have stayed in Gastoff Hotel Hof as well as Freudenberg on two separate trips to Appenzell. We acclimate/jet lag recover for a day or two in Appenzell before mountain hut to mountain hut hiking. We also spend a final night in Appenzell before departing.

Hof is older with a lot of character near the town center. It is a very short walk to the old beautiful painted buildings of Appenzell. Also not too far from the Bahnof.

Freudenberg is about a 1 km walk from the train station mostly uphill. They will pick you up if you call them. We were there to hike so, a bit of a walk to the hotel is good after a long train ride. It is much newer and has a great view of the area from the rooms and patio. Freudenberg is also quieter since it is away from the roads.

Both places have full restaurants with tradition Swiss breakfasts. Also, both places were willing to store a bag for us while we hut to hut hiking. We tried not to carry too much in our back packs while hiking.

Both Hof and Freudenberg were very friendly with excellent food and nice clean rooms.

You are correct about the three consecutive night stay at an Appenzell and the tourist card. We have never stayed more than 2 nights at a time in town so we never took advantage of the deals.
http://www.appenzell.ch/en/accommodation/appenzeller-card.html

My wife of 25 years and I absolutely love hiking from hut to hut in the Appenzeller region. The huts are pretty much fully modern B&Bs by our standards. They are located just the right distance apart for a snack or meal and then again for lodging. Some are small some are large. Everyone we have stayed in has single rooms available as well as dorm style sleeping rooms called matratzenlagers. Bathrooms are typically shared but not always. Some have limited water.

Enlarge this map for more details of the huts and trails:
http://www.appenzell.ch/fileadmin/template_appenzell/user_upload/06_Dokumente/Broschueren_Flyer/Panoramakarte_Sommer.pdf
I had a really hard time finding a good map before our first hiking trip. The above map is in the Bahnoff as well as the hotels and huts. It seemed to be everywhere except outside of the area. The trails are very well marked.

Aescher, as you mentioned, is the best hut visually and a cable car ride and short hike from Wasserauen. There can be a lot of people since it is famous and relatively easy to get there.
Berggasthaus Seealpsee and Forelle are next to each other on a gorgeous alpine lake. We have stayed in Forelle as well as enjoyed a delicious trout dinner there. We had the place to ourselves mid-week in September. Both of these 'huts' are large.
Further up the valley on a high plateau is Meglisalp. This is a great place to stay and/or eat. There are several working farms right outside the door. You will hear the traditional evening prayer from your room window. Magic.

You can't really go wrong with any of the huts. Each is unique. All of them prohibit hiking boots in the rooms and provide house shoes.

The hiking is not an easy stroll through the park. The climbs aren't too bad but the descents can be very tough especially from Seealpsee back down to Wasserauen. It is a steep paved road than just never ends. We much prefer a trail to the road for descending.

Oh, and don't be surprised to be passed on the trails by 70+ year old retired Swiss hikers. They are in shape!

Jay

Jay,
Thank you so much for your very detailed reply! The information you gave me was exactly what I was looking for. We only have 3 days in Appenzell or I would love to do more of the hut to hut hikes and stays. But I think we're coming up with a good combination of things for those three days. And thank you for that map! I looked everywhere for one with all the Berggasthauses and couldn't find one to print! Thanks for taking the time to respond in so much detail. Happy hiking to you and your wife!
Karen

Karen,

I got a bit carried away typing the response.
Can you tell we like the area?

If you enjoy the three days in the area, plan another longer trip in the future.

Here are a few more things we learned:
July is rainy season. Bring rain gear and enjoy all the alpine flowers.
Quollfrisch beer is excellent and only available in the area.
The apotheke in the old town has a better Alpenbitter than the famous Appenzeller Alpenbitter.
Appenzeller Biber is a tasty treat. (gingerbread filled with almond paste)
Freudenberg is an excellent, quiet place to stay overlooking the town and has great food.
The bank a short walk in front of the bahnoff has an ATM in lobby accessible outside bank hours.
Riding the cable car down saves knees.
The Lisengrat is spectacular from Rotsteinpass to Santis early in the morning.
Switzerland is expensive and it is good to have cash. (Lunch at Seealpsee was 50 euro)
Some of the huts only take cash.

Enjoy your trip,
Jay

Thanks again Jay! More great info for us! We are spending a total of two weeks in Switzerland and will visit the Zweisimmen, Gimmelwald, and Kandersteg areas in addition to Appenzell. This is our first trip to Switzerland and I can tell, it won't be our last! We appreciate all the time you've spent writing out the tips for us. We are having so much fun with the planning-it's half the fun of the trip, don't you think?! Thanks for your help with our planning!

Karen

Karen,
Yes, planning is part of the fun.
You might want to hike up to Murren from Gimmelwald to enjoy the deck at Hotel Bellevue. Absolutely stunning views and you can watch the paragliders take off from the field just passed the cable car. If you are adventurous, try a tandem paraglider ride.
The hiking in BO is considerably tamer than Appenzell hut to hut area. Unless, of course, you are after big adventure in BO. The via ferrata is great fun as long as you aren't afraid of heights. I recommend a guide for the via ferrata.
Base jumping is a pretty popular in the Lauterbrunen valley too. Fun to watch but not anything I want to do.

When is your trip?

Jay

Jay
Paragliding and base jumping may be a bit much for us but we're definitely excited to do the hike from Gimmelwald to Murren! I'm going to start a new thread on our first few days in Zweisimmen. Any input on Gstaad, Golden Pass train to Montreux, Gruyeres, Bern would be great. Thanks again Jay for all your tips!
Karen