Should I stay in Lauterbrunnen or...

There are lots of other places in Murren to rent a room for the night. Hotel Blumental is just a bit down the street. Hotel Alpenruh is very nice and sits just next to the gondola up to the Schilthorn where you can choose to take your included breakfast in the revolving restaurant. Lauterbrunnen is beautiful, but if your aim is to get to Murren then just look at any of the other hotels for 1 night.

Thanks, Larry. We were planning to explore the valley floor anyway and thought we may as well stay there (we arrive around 1:00 pm) and recover, doing some light hiking and walking.
I will check the hotel you recommended. I guess there really is not a bad place to stay in that region. Thanks!

Muerren is simply wonderful. I suggest trying a bit more to get up there. CLICK HERE to see a list of places to stay in Muerren from www.tripadvisor.com

That being said, we really like Lauterbrunnen. We stay at the Hotel Silberhorn (www.silberhorn.com) which we feel is a cut above the other 6-7 hotels in Lauterbrunnen. It's 500 feet from the train station and is very centrally located. It's not in the RS book as it's prices may be above his frugal range. However, the restaurant in the hotel is in the book. Great stay, great food. One alternate in Lauterbrunnen would be the Hotel Staubbach which is in the RS book.

Interlaken is 25 minutes by train from Lauterbrunnen. Interlaken has more evening and night life than Lauterbrunnen or Muerren. Not a bad choice to stay there either.

We have stayed at the Oberland Hotel and we really liked it. Mark and his wife made us feel right at home. She was born and raised in the valley and he is originally from Australia. They also have a great restaurant (I'm already looking forward to their Mountain Rosti) The price was about $10 more a night than Hotel Staubbach (which we also love, but it is hard to get into. Almost everytime we are there, the hotel is filled with a Steve's tour). You can go to Trip Advisor and read reviews on both of these. We love staying in the valley, and it would save you money to see the valley and maybe the Wengen side of the valley before going onto Murren.

We stayed at the Alpina in Murren and it was great.

I think you are right about Zurich.

Normally I am an advocate for sleeping up in the mountains, but since you are already going to Murren and must shift your base anyway, Lauterbrunnen makes a lot of sense.

You might also spend that night in Wengen if you will be exploring that side of the valley the next day.

I wouldn't choose Interlaken for the lakes unless you are planning to take a cruise.

Thank you all so much. I really appreciate all the advise and opinions on this site.
I have received an offer from Hotel Staubbach in Lauterbrunnen and I am awaiting a response from Hotel Blumental in Muerren.We are probably going to take the Blumental though or another hotel in Muerren. Thanks again!

We also enjoyed staying at Hotel Alpina in Murren. Beautiful views and nice rooms. I believe it's in Rick's book.

We have stayed twice in Murren and once in Lauterbrunnen. We will go back next year and stay in Lauterbrunnen at the Hotel Staubach. Loved the big picture window to watch the para gliders darting near the falls.
Also thought Mark was great at The Oberland Hotel. We ate there several times. We didn't meet his wife.
I first meal in Switzerland on our last trip was at a hotel across from the Staubbach. I couldn't wait to have snitzel as I love it. It was horrible. Turns out that it is no longer weiner snitzel. It is pork snitzel. We only ound the real weiner snitzel in Maria Alm, Austria and we paid dearly for it. I see no need to change hotels as all the small towns are close together. We just get the 6 day pass and jump off and on the Bob train.
We stayed at the Ibis in Zurich before taking the train the next morning. We don't like the big cities, but always stay at an Ibis when we need to be near the airport for return.

We stayed at the Hotel Staubbach this summer and loved it! The rooms were great and the view was amazing! We paid extra to get a room with a view of the valley and falls and was worth every penny. Waking up in the morning to the view was priceless! We found the staff to be absolutely amazing and friendly. Every morning at breakfast they would check in with each table to see if people had questions on their activities for the day. Food was good too!

Hope you have a good trip!

Thanks to you all for your help. It seems that everyone has a good time/location no matter where they stayed.
We have decided to stay at Hotel Blumental in Muerren
and we are really looking forward to being in that region of Switzerland.