Help with hotel suggestions, budget CHF 200/night

With so many choices I am thoroughly confused on which hotels to select. I got great help on this forum to plan the 18-day itinerary. Now I hope I can get the same help to find good hotels.

We are a family of 3 (6 year old). We have a return flight from Zurich to home country (landing on June 18th).

The preference for hotels:

• Closer to Train Station and local restaurants
• Not too luxurious- Good views if within budget-
• Budget: US$/CHF 200

Zurich (1N), Lucerne (4N), Interlaken (5N), Zermatt (4N), Montreux (3N), Zurich (1N)

Based on price, TripAdvisor rating, hotelscombined.com, this is what I could find within budget. I have no idea about these. Are these good? Any alternatives?

• Zurich - Swissotel Zurich
• Lucerne - Ibis Luzern Kriens, Ibis Styles Luzern City, Hotel Seeburg
• Interlaken - Hotel Reossil, MyHotel Merkur or Wengen - Hotel Edelweiss, Hotel Baeren, Hotel Belvedere
• OR
• Wengen, Hotel Silberhorn, Hotel Wengener Hof
• Zermatt - Bella Vista, Rex Hotel, Alpenblick
• Montreux - Hotel Helvetie

Is there any good local hotel chain that offers properties at all these locations? Has anyone used www.hotelcard.com? Seems to be offering hotels for 1/2 price at CHF95 annual membership.

Hi SR1000,

Before providing feedback, did you have a look at our hotel suggestions? We have lists of suggested hotels for nearly all your towns. I don't know HotelCard specifically. If you consider it I'd recommend to closely check all details. Mostly, such concepts have their disadvantages as well: limited choice of hotels, limited availability of rooms (e.g. no weekends), limited room type choice, requirement to have diner in the hotel, etc.

Now, as for your hotels:

• Zurich: that hotel is not in the city center. It's next to the Oerlikon station, so relatively easy to reach but the surroundings are not thrilling: offices, hotels, shops. It's perfectly fine for the night after arrival or before departure by plane. If that's the goal, please see myswissalps.com/ zurichairporthotels. Or see our Zurich page for other options.
• Lucerne: the first and third are far from the rail station, although the third is at a scenic lake side location. The second one is in the center of town, very close to the museums.
• Interlaken: the second one is very conveniently located, with the station of Interlaken West across the street. The other one is not in Interlaken but in (very nearby) Unterseen.
• Wengen: Wengen is much more scenic than Interlaken, but Interlaken offers much better train connections to the entire Bernese Oberland. All 5 hotels you selected for Wengen are pretty close to the rail station. The last two are most luxurious, so I would pick those (but that's just me). This thread might be useful.
• Zermatt: If you want to see the Matterhorn from the hotel, Bella Vista offers the best chance I think. Rex is in a nice little street just outside the town center. Basically all hotels and cable car stations can be reached on foot within 20 minutes or so as Zermatt is small.
• Montreux: Helvetie is about 10 minutes from the rail station, so that's doable. No lake views there however. What about the Eurotel? Although the building itself is ugly too, it's only 4 minutes from the rail station and right on the lake side.

I don't know of hotel chains in all those towns. I wouldn't recommend to limit yourself to one chain. There lots of fine private hotels in Switzerland.

Does this help?

Thanks Arno. Yes, I looked at the recommendations on this site before posting. You have given some good feedback here. Really appreciate it.

One thing I noticed while booking is that most websites are not allowing us to book a double room/king size bed for 2 adults + 1 kid (6 year old). They are forcing us to get a bigger room (more expensive). Is there any local law that prohibits occupancy of 3 people (1 kid) in a room with double bed/king size bed? Even if the kid will share the bed with parents?

You're welcome! I don't think there's a law for that. It's not about the bed, but about the extra breakfast, laundry, energy, etc. Even a child costs money to accommodate. To the best of my knowledge, that's what this is about.

One request/question, if you can please respond quickly (booking now). Is the Zurich West location (opposite Zurich HB) good? Getting Ibis Zurich City West/Novotel Zurich City West options for decent price. We are staying here only 1 night on the way in and 1 night on the way out.

Eurotel seems quite expensive (~300CHF) for us. Lausanne seems to be offering lot more options. Should we consider staying there instead? We plan to visit the Cheese Factory (Gruyers) and Chcolate Factory (Broc) on Day 1 and Geneva on Day 2.

Hi SR1000,

I found rooms from CHF 232 for the Eurotel. I don't know your exact date so I took a random one in June. Be sure the fill out the exact number and ages of the guests; the child may be cheaper so don't select 3 adults: www.hotelscombined.com /Hotel/Eurotel_Riviera _Montreux.htm. I think Montreux is better than Lausanne, although I don't know Lausanne very well. Montreux is smaller and perfect for the day trip you mentioned, although logistically you can do it from Lausanne too.

Zurich West is considered to be the more modern/trendy part of town. Both hotels are in the same building so no difference location wise. The train station Hardbrücke is nearby, Zurich HB is not at walking distance (I added links to your post and you can see a map there). There are direct trains to the airport from both Hardbrücke and Oerlikon, although more frequent options from Oerlikon.

Thanks again Arno.

My dates for Montreux are July 2 - 5 (3 nights). I just checked again. It is showing me US$450+. Any other recommendations in Montreux? Most of the hotels seem to be quite high on price, hence thought of Lausanne.

So far I have booked:

• 4N in Lucerne - ibis budget Luzern City
• 5N in Wengen - Hotel Wengener Hof (with view)
• 4N in Zermatt - Bella Vista (with view) - waiting for confirmation

Now trying for Zurich and Montreux. How is Eden Palace au Lac in Montreux and St Georges Hotel Zurich (I see it is one of the recommended)?

July is indeed top of the high season and more expensive. Even the Helvetie is at least $240 per night around that time. The Eden Palace au Lac is over budget too. The location on the lake promenade is very nice though.

Alternatively you can have a look at the Hotel/Guesthouse in nearby Vevey, which is quite a nice town as well. It's a central location near the rail station and the lake. Some rooms even have lake view I think. But I don't think their private rooms are still available during your dates, only dormitory. Even cheaper but not what's you're looking for I guess.

Slightly over budget is Hotel Prealpina in Chexbres, less than 10 minutes from a small train stop and amidst the vineyards.

Of course Lausanne is fine as well, it's just a much bigger town/city. The Agora Swiss Night could fit your requirements. It's within your budget, gets good reviews, and very close to the rail station with lots of trains going everywhere.

We selected the St. Georges Hotel in Zurich because it's just outside the center of town, so a bit cheaper than many others (around $160 in your case), but still within walking distance. The central station is a bit too far to walk with luggage, but only 10 minutes by tram.

After lot of searching, finally settled for Agora Swiss Night in Lausanne. Now only remaining is Zurich. I think for the last day before flight will book something closer or easily accessible to airport. That will simplify getting to the airport for morning flight.

For the first day in Zurich will most likely go with St Georges Hotel. How is the Mercure Stoller Zurich location in comparison? The only activity we will do in Zurich is the Rheine Falls and probably a late afternoon/evening walking tour in old city. Any recommendation for which walking tour to select?

Great, you're almost done :-) For the last day, please check this list. Most of those hotels have a free shuttle to the airport.

The Mercure Stoller is a 20 minute tram ride from the central station. Doable, but personally I'd prefer something more centrally. Note that the Rhine Falls are not in Zurich but a one hour train ride out of town. Hotel Leoneck, for example, is just 7 minutes on foot. I found rooms slightly over your budget: CHF 225.

All booked! Thanks again for your help. Now onto Rail Pass booking. Will post some questions in that section after doing some reading.

Hi SR1000,

Great to see that this is all sorted out. If would be wonderful if you can post a trip report once you're back. I'd love to hear how you liked the hotels and your day trips. Other travelers like such practical experiences as well. For rail passes, please start on www.myswissalps.com/tr ain/ticketspasses.

Kind regards,

Annika

Yes, will certainly post trip report after the trip. Reading through the Rail Passes and trying to figure out which one to get. Will post specific questions in the other section.

We are planning on spending our last day/night in Bern and then taking the train the next morning straight to the Zurich Airport (1 hour). Our flight is at 10 am. Are we pushing it making it to the airport by around 7 am? Would we be better off just staying at a Zurich airport hotel? Thanks for advice!

Hi Zanoffc,

I'd say that should work if you leave early enough and take a direct train. But of course you can minimize the risk by staying in Zurich (see here for hotels). Please post further questions in a new thread as this one is not related to your question (our forum rules are here).