I have it narrowed down to one of these 3 places for our 4 night stay in Murren in Sept and can not decide. Any feedback from all of you? 1. Hotel Blumental 2. Hotel Alpina 3. Chalet Bob's - one bedroom apartment.
Are restaurant prices high enough that having a kitchen will be the thing that tips the scale? I am not super interested in cooking while on vacation -- but breakfast and lunches would be easy enough.
Janet, Hotel Blumental is in the center of Murren not too far from the cable-car station. It has something of a traditional Swiss chalet appearance and a restaurant with outdoor street-side seating. (If the restaurant is getting no business, the server standing in the doorway will try to entice you to eat there. The food is reportedly very good.) Hotel Alpina is on the eastern end of Murren, farther from the train station. It sits literally right on the edge of the cliff. So if you have a cliffside room, you will have the most awesome views from your balcony--not just across to the Eiger, Monch, and Jungfrau but also down (2000-feet down!) into the valley. I do not know about Bob's except if I remember correctly, it is just down the slope from the cable-car station on the foot path between Murren and Gimmelwald. More like a Swiss home, as I recall.
There is a Coop supermarket a little way up the hill from the cable-car station and down from the Blumental. There you can find whatever you need for breakfast of lunch or preparing your own meal. Swiss chocolate! The Coop is closed over lunch hour, so you don't want to duck in at noon expecting to pick up lunch items then.
The most popular restaurant is the Stagerstubli which is near the Coop. It is where you will find most people eating either inside or outside. (In September it will most likely be cool outside in the evening. Have a light jacket if you choose to eat on the terrace.) Dinner prices are in the $25-30/person range; wine or beer extra. That's a typical price for Murren restaurant dinners. By the way, most restaurants, except the Stagerstubli, are in the hotels.
I forgot to add--September is a fantastic time to be in Murren. You may have to pinch yourself to realize you haven't died and gone to heaven ;-)
Janet, I stayed for just one night at Hotel Blumental in September last year. I found the rooms to be small and basic for the price.
Well, our room was and I think we paid 135 chf.
We did eat dinner at the restaurant every night though (5 nights),and Dwayne is right about the food. Good food. The service was excellent and the staff friendly and attentive.It is pricey but I understand that there are less expensives places to eat in Muerren. I am a very picky eater so sometimes I have to pay the price for my dietary restrictions.Some hotels do offer breakfast and you can eat lunch out but dinner can be expensive or not depending on your preference.
It’s not on your list, but I can recommend Chalet Fontana…number three in Murren according to tripadvisor.com.
Thanks everyone for the great tips. I had considered Chalet Fontana until I realized that they have only shared bathroom rooms. If that is not the case -- please let me know!
At this point I am really just tweaking our budget in a few places. So in Murren that means -- do we go for the self catering Bob's and use the remaing money for a good meal? Or just go with the easier hotel option. Sounds like most anything will be a win win.
We loved the stagerstubli restuarant in Murren and paid more like 15-20CHF/person for a nice supper....but we don't drink wine either, so that may be an additional cost. Lunches were easy to pick up from the Coop, we probably spent about 10-15CHF for two people for meat, cheese, bread and a treat. I don't think cooking any of your own food is necessary, even if you want to stay on a tight budget. We stayed at Chalet Fontana, which included a great breakfast, but yes, it only has shared bathrooms, but we loved it. Murren is a wonderful little village, i'm sure that any of the places you pick will meet or exceed your expectations! Have a great trip!
I almost always prefer in-room facilities and hesitated a little before booking Chalet Fontana, as the bathrooms are shared. I must say, however, that the quality of the lodging and the very low price more than made up for the lack of a private bathroom. There are two full bathrooms with showers…very clean and available when I needed them to be. I would certainly stay there again. Check out tripadvisor for more reviews.
I just wanted to thank everyone for the kind responses and say that I have booked our stay at Chalet Fontana! You all convinced me that the shared bath thing is a non issue. We are so looking forward to our trip. Thanks for all the great tips about places to eat and get groceries. One thing that is rarely mentioned about Chalet Fontana is that she only takes cash as payment. This is not a problem at all as long as one know this up front and can be prepared with the cash. Just thought I would add this for anyone else considering a stay there. I wish this would be posted on the website. Last summer in Ireland we had a small issue with a B&B that only took cash -- but had led me to believe that they took credit. No big deal if we had known -- little bit of a hassle to scramble for the extra cash at the last minute.
I think you'll enjoy Chalet Fontana. Denise is delightful, and it is fun to meet the other guests.
There is an ATM very nearby, so don't worry about the cash.
