Accomodations in Wengen, Ch question

We loved Hotel Bären. It is simple and moderate in price, and tthe food is excellent. It is really more of a nice restaurant with rooms upstairs than a full-service hotel. (In fact the reception is not staffed most of the day.) Half board there is a bargain. I would get a room with balcony. No wood paneling, doilies or kitschy Swiss "charm", just a clean modern room with great views and the best breakfast I've had in Europe.

We have stayed several times at the Alpenrose and loved it. Had a view of the Jungfrau and great meals.

We stayed at Hotel Hirschen for one night in 2001. I remember it was pretty close to the train station and reasonable for Wengen. In my journal I wrote: "The hotel is very nice and we have view of the valley and mountains." I remember the breakfast was pretty sparse, but that was partly because they were closing down a couple of days later. (I got the impression they close for the season between summer and winter. We were there on September 17) Of course, my information is not very up to date, but since no one else had posted....WE love the Lauterbrunnen area and have returned several times. We tend to stay in the town of Lauterbrunnen. (Our first trip we did what you are doing...booked some nights in Muerren and some in Wengen. However, the weather was so bad, we canceled it all after one night and returned a week later and tried again.)

Ken, my daughter and I stayed at the Hotel Falken about 4 years ago,, and loved it.. old hotel, tons of character,, but comfy fluffy duvets and great breakfasts,, and we had a great view from our room, even though they said it wasn't a "veiw" room. Would stay there again. Its not super modern, but we like that. Reminded me of a much smaller, quainter version of the hotel from the Shining,, the era I mean.

If you want a list of accommodations in Wengen, with email addresses, URLs (if they have them), and prices, go to www.wengen.ch.

Thanks for all the replies as they are helpful. Lee, we have checked the website, but I was looking for comments from those who have had experience staying in Wengen before. Comments from people who frequent this site and have first hand experiences always seem to be more helpful that information on a website.

Ken, I will just say that we have spent 8 weeks in Switzerland over 4 trips. We have several favorites to which we return again and again, but Hotel Baeren is a standout for warm hospitality and really good food. The rooms are simple but have all you need, including the views. Frau Brunner is a very gracious hostess and will come to your table at dinner to welcome you, in English if you don't speak German. I never met her husband as he is busy woking wonders in the kitchen. I will plan our next trip to Switzerland around a ataxy at this place. I have heard very good things about Alpenrose but it is too expensive for us. Also it is lower on the hill so a bigger hike back up to the train station. Where are you staying in Mürren?

So glad to hear all the positive comments about Hotel Baeren. We're staying there for the first time this June during our 3rd trip to the area, but will be the first time staying in Wengen!

Ken, I guess it's a trade off. The Wengen website has 27 places listed. You got only recommendations on our website, but from people who had actually been there. I'm sure some of the other 23 places are better than the four you got, it's just that our people hadn't been there. Of 38 places I've stayed at in the last 11 years, all of them found on town websites like wengen.ch, There's never been at a place I wouldn't recommend.

"I'm sure that some of the other 23 places are better than the four you got, it's just that our people haven' t been there." And neither have you. What do you mean by "better"? Wengen is a resort, and there are many nice, and expensive to very expensive, places to stay, with all the amenities. Ken is asking for something at a reasonable price, of which there are few. In 8 weeks of travel in Switzerland, I can say the the Bären is one of my favorites. And the price is right. There is nothing wrong for asking for opinions from people who have been there, as opposed to random choices from a website.

You just never really know from reading a website, so I asked for personal expereinces. Lola, thanks for the suggestions. I think we will try staying at the Hotel Baren. I am trying to get something set up for Chalet Bobs in Murren. He said the room that we wanted was available for the dates we wanted but when I tried to confirm the reservation I did not hear back and it has been a week. We might try Chalet Fontana if we don't hear back from Bobs soon. I want to get Murren set up before Wengen. Lola, while your at it do you have any suggestions for Luzern, Lusanne and Zermatt? You are very kind and helpful.

Ken, my experience with Chalet Bobs is that they prefer a full week. We have never stayed there, for that reason. He may be stalling to wait for a week booking. Or maybe they are on vacation or something. But that would be unusual for ski season. As to your question about other locations: we have not stayed in Lausanne, only passed through. We did stay in nearby Morges at the Best Western on the lake, fine but no particular charm and it was expensive. If returning to that area I would look into the Riviera Lodge in Vevey, a hostel that has private rooms. For Luzern, we chose to stay out of town on Rigi, due in part to the expense of Luzern lodging ( we were traveling as a family of 5) and a preference for rural locations with access to hiking. I did pick out a few places in Luzern that looked nice, but would have had to book 3 rooms which was not affordable. For 2 it might be fine. I will have to look back at my notes for the names. Both were right in the center, near the train station and the famous bridge. In Zermatt, we were six people, and I found a luxury 2 bdr. Apartment with gorgeous full-on view of the Matterhorn and nice balconies. The low season rate ( before July 7) was only 240 CHf for the six of us. The same building had smaller apartments for two which would be less, assuming September is again back to low season rates. I believe it was Haus Annabelle but I will have to check to confirm that. It was a near new chalet in Winkelmatten, at the far end of the valley from the train station, closest to the Klein Matterhorn lift. This was a great location for hiking. The trail up to Riffelalp and beyond to Gornergrat started right near our door. Zermatt offered great hiking, and just writing about it makes me want to return soon!