I do not agree with your view of AirBnB

We live in an open society with no business restriction whatsoever (except of course what has been declared illegal by Federal or Cantonal governments). This freedom to do business as one pleases is one of the foundations of Switzerland s wealth (the others are free education, protection of private goods by law, the rule of law and - to a certain extent the Swiss military).

While some of your arguments are certainly valid, the very same arguments could be quoted when „advising against“ the Swiss hotellerie (lousy service, dirty rooms, nobody at reception during the night, theft, rip off at the checkout or cash register).

As long as the AirBnB host complies with the law, respects local customs and complies with current regulations (covid for instance), I do not see where the difference should be to a regular hotel/hostel. Has it to withnthe fact that an AirBnB host is not paying any membership fees?

Food for thought.

Hi Zeugma and welcome to MySwissAlps!

Thank you for sharing your opinion. What we write about Airbnb is our personal opinion and a heads up regarding things to consider when looking for accommodation. You are right that a host who complies to all regulations and takes care of his/her surroundings can offer a wonderful experience to tourists. In the end it all boils down to personal preferences and tourists doing sufficient research before booking. I'm not aware of membership fees that Airbnb hosts have to pay. We don't have membership fees, if that's what you meant. Feel free to rent any accommodation that suits your needs and expectations!

Happy traveling (once allowed again)!

🙏🏻 ;-)

All true.

Competition will drive the use patterns.

That said, staying in traditional Swiss ins, with restaurant and accommodation, has a strong appeal for me. Returning year after year make the visits more "personal" for me.

To each his own.

Slowpoke

My experience is similar to Slowpoke’s. We stay at the same family owned inn/hotel in Wengen on all our visits to Wengen. In addition to a dependable degree of quality, we have enjoyed getting to know the family that runs the hotel. We also enjoy interacting with other guests at dinner, in the bar, and happy hour on the front lawn. The information and suggestions we have received from staff and guests has been very valuable. I would suspect this aspect would be much less likely at an Airbnb.

On the other hand if you value privacy and perhaps more living space then Airbnb may be a good option.

As to the question of incentives, I would expect Myswissalps to receive some compensation for the hotel listings on its website. After all Myswissalps is a business. However they have never discouraged contributors from praising hotels, restaurants, or attractions not listed on the website. I, at least, firmly believe the advice Arno and the other moderators give are opinions they believe to be true and not based on financial considerations. This would include their views on Airbnb and public transportation. To my knowledge they have never censored any respectful dissent as evidenced by Zeugma’s post.

Mark

This is why I will continue to refer to myswissalps.com as a good starting point to get to know the area. As someone said „we re luckily not all the same“ ;-)

Zeugma

I hate to change the subject slightly, but I would be interested to know where Mark stays in Wengen. We are going to visit Wengen in September and are now making arrangements.

Jiejax

Hi Jiejax -

<<"but I would be interested to know where Mark stays in Wengen. We are

going to visit Wengen in September and are now making arrangements.">>

We all have our favorites, for differing reasons. Thus, it could help if you gave some guidancse on features that particularly interest you. Hiking? Food?..

After over 80 visiting over the years, my own favorite is the Bellevue, for a very well managed small hotel with a distinctly Swiss perspective....I return there regularly because of vale and quality for the price, a limited but well chosen menu, and what I believe are the best views of the Eiger and the Jungfrau Massif.

Are there are particular features that interest you? It might permit some suggestions from the perspectives of individual form members. Do you have a ranges of costs or quality that might be helpful?

www.myswissalps.com/wengen

Slowpoke

Hi Jiejax

We have stayed many times at the Beausite Park Hotel. The rooms, views, and food are first rate and over the past several years it has been rated as either 1st or 2nd by Trip Adviser.. My impression is a fairly high percentage of repeat guests from England who have a particular interest in hiking are unusually commonplace . Although I am from the US, I have enjoyed their company and found them to be quite friendly and informative. The hotel has been owned and run by a local Swiss family for many years and run with typical Swiss efficiency and attention to detail. All the rooms were updated with new furnishings fairly recently, perhaps 3 years ago I believe.

As you may surmise, many of the regular contributors here have their own personal favorites and are quite loyal to them. I suspect that speaks well for the accommodations in general in Wengen

Mark. Sorry, PS to Slowpoke I volunteered for the phase 3 Moderna trial an was vaccinated in September. i was recently notified I received the vaccine, not the placebo. Yahoo!

Dear Jiejax and Mark

I gather from your name that you are probably coming to Switzerland from an Asian country, right?

Now, and this has nothing to do with stereotypes or racism, I observed that especially Chinese tourists do not like to spend a lot of money for their overnight stay, right?

And while I personally would book Mark s recommended hotel in Wengen without hesitation or further research I dare presenting you an alternative: Have you ever heard of „Balmer s“ or any other „backpacker“ hostel in Interlaken?

I m pretty sure you, Jiejax, are no backpacker. But then Balmer s product offering does not only encompass mass dormitories either. Most of the hostels in Interlaken have two bedroom options available (they are usually booked out months in advance but with covid things have changed somewhat).

What s more: Balmer s offers self catering kitchen facilities (nice if you re fed up eating cheese fondue every other evening), extremely reasonable cost for beer etc, interior design facilitating contact with other travellers, very reasonable burger joint on premises, diskotheque (once covid is over), chill out zones in and outside the building, hot jaccuzi, also very friendly staff, a public bus pass for the length of your journey, promotional material and coupons offered by the local tourist office.

Within 10‘ you re in Interlaken s main shopping district, within 5‘ you re standing in one of the many ‚adventure tour shops‘, within 30‘ you re in the Lauterbrunnental (by bus), within 40’ you re in Wengen, Grindelwald or Mürren (bus and train), within 1 1/2 hours you re standing on „Top of Europe“ at 4’000m altitude or on „Piz Gloria“ (James Bond film), within 20‘ you re discovering either Lake Thun or Lake Brienz (if you re lucky on one of those 100 years old, former steam boats).

For me, sorry Mark, it s Interlaken not Wengen.

Regards

Zeugma

www.balmers.com - I am not affiliated nor do I receive compensation from Balmer s

Actually, I am from the US and live in Georgia!

You mid- spelled my name.

Joejax

Dear Joejax

Of course the same applies for our US guests... ;-)

Regards

Zeugma

<<"Mark. Sorry, PS to Slowpoke I volunteered for the phase 3 Moderna trial

an was vaccinated in September. i was recently notified I received the

vaccine, not the placebo. Yahoo!">>

Good to hear.

At the moment, I am currently an excellent candidate for the vaccine, for reasons of age and other factors.

A person who helps me out at my home once per week, who works for a home health care facility, just received dose #1 of the Moderna vaccine. She is tested every day at 6:30 AM with a fast test, because of her possible exposure in her work.

My PCP has me on his list for vaccination as soon as he gets product, which adds me to the list of ...hopefully..early vaccination..

Slowpoke

PS - In note progress in antibodies at Regeneron. The stock just bumped up, too.

Joe,

We made a 4 night visit to Wengen in Sept of 2019 and stayed at the Maya Caprice Boutique Hotel & Spa. Our only visit but would go back and stay there again. GREAT views (no other hotel rooftops to look over see attached picture)

I'm sure everyone has their favorites for to multiple reasons. I thought I'd add our stay into the mix as a place to consider.

Hi Joejax

The confusion of your name is likely due to your original post where you signed it “Jiejax”

Georgia huh. Dawg? Yellowjacket?

I’ve never stayed in a hostel but Zeugma’s photos looked nice. Whether you stay in a hostel in Interlaken or an upscale hotel in Wengen I expect you will throughly enjoy your stay in the Bernese Oberland area. Much to see and do.

Mark (Vol for life)

PS to Slowpoke. Hospitalist I know who care for Covid patients daily have told me the only treatments that truly make a difference (in their experience) are monoclonal antibodies early or steroids late.

Thanks to everyone for the advice and information on Wengen. Sorry about mis-spelling my name. BTW, I am a Dawg.

Joejax