Review: Hotel Oberland, Lauterbrunnen
I stayed at the Hotel Oberland in Lauterbrunnen, Switzerland for four nights. The excellent hotel staff provided everything I could have hoped for after a day’s slog up the mountains. Warmth, comfort, fantastic service, amazing food and superb value. Here’s what I thought.
The Room
My third floor room was large, comfortable, very clean and modern. The wooden furniture seemed brand new. Two single beds were pushed together to make a double. The room was very well lit, not just artificially, but with two windows on two walls and a set of double doors leading out onto the private balcony. In the room was a desk, two chairs, a large wardrobe and an ottoman to put bags on. There were two individually controlled radiators for heating. The windows and balcony doors were double-glazed. The bathroom, while small, was spotlessly clean. Inside was the toilet, sink and shower.
Location
The hotel is set in the world’s largest U-shaped valley, in a small, quiet and beautiful town called Lauterbrunnen. It’s very easy to get to. Main line trains run from Zurich, Bern and Basel to Interlaken Ost. From there you catch a BOB (Berner-Oberland-Bahn) train into Lauterbrunnen (make sure you get on the train from the correct section of the platform as the train splits in half enroute to Lauterbrunnen). Upon arrival in Lauterbrunnen, the hotel is just a 4 minute walk up the main street. You really can’t miss it. I stayed in a room facing the road and there was some traffic noise but the town falls asleep by 23h00 and there’s almost no traffic at all. In the hotel’s immediate vicinity are shops (a supermarket, specialist shops etc.) and other hotels. There was absolutely no noise at all from neighbouring properties. Safety isn’t an issue. The only people around are the quiet locals and the visitors. If you are concerned, the town’s police station is about 2 minutes away. Transport links are fantastic. Lauterbrunnen offers train, bus and cablecar connections in almost every direction so it’s very easy indeed to get to where you want to go.
Amenities
There weren’t really any extras like tea and coffee making facilities and such. The TV had around 40 channels, most of them Swiss (in French, German and Italian). For english speakers there was CNN, MSNBC and BBC Prime. There were also channels from the Netherlands, Germany and France. Channel 1 was a very useful local information channel, showing live views of the major tourist destinations in the area plus the current temperatures. It aided in deciding what to do each day. Hairdryers were available for free on request from the reception. The hotel’s restaurant was absolutely fantastic! I ate there every night. The prices were very reasonable and the quality of the food was outstanding. Try the tomato soup (it has a layer of cream on top) and then the ‘Lauterbrunner’ rosti. Delicious!
Service
Here’s where the hotel shone. The staff were all extremely friendly and helpful and all spoke flawless english. Ursula, the manager of the hotel, was particularly so. Upon arrival, she helped plan out my week, checked weather forecasts and handed me leaflets. In the evenings when I returned from exploring the area, she’d ask me how I was and what I got up to. Upon my departure and without being asked, she had printed off train times for me to help me plan my last day so that I could visit Luzern and still get to the airport on time. Outstanding service!
Conclusion
The Hotel Oberland in Lauterbrunnen is a fantastic establishment. The rooms are comfortable, clean and well furnished and the price is exceptionally good. The location is perfect for exploring the Bernese Oberland area with Lauterbrunnen being a transport hub with connections in pretty much every direction. The hotel’s restaurant serves a wide variety of delicious food (pasta, pizza, rostis, meat and vegetable dishes, fodues etc.) at very reasonable prices. The service from all the staff (but particularly Ursula) was outstanding. I was made to feel very at home.
Stop searching for hotels in the Bernese Oberland area. The Hotel Oberland in Lauterbrunnen will more than meet your needs and will exceed your expectations.You can view additional photos of the room in my Switzerland Flickr set. This review, plus many others, can be found on TripAdvisor.
