Hotel berhampiran Lake Sarnen, Sarnen

Verena is a lovely lady, very chatty and only too happy to assist. Her house is beautifully renovated, wonderfully clean, and in a great location for exploring the local places - however as a fellow B&B owner (who regularly receives 10/10 on Booking com from my guests), I felt Verena’s guest house is best described as a “posh hostel”. She claims to have spent many years in luxury hospitality but as a guest it’s not luxurious if: 1) you have to take your dressing gown, towels, bath mat, wash bag and clothes into a shared bathroom; 2 shared bathrooms and two separate toilets for 5 bedrooms (10 people) is not luxurious. 2) you have to climb over your partner to get out of bed because the bed is jammed up against the wall on three sides, and as such you have no where to put anything during the night, no bedside table, or even a shelf above the headboard. 3) you have to go into the shared bathroom just to use the provided hairdryer. I do not understand why there isn’t one in each room. 4) you have to forgo reading your book in bed because the only (minuscule) bedside lamp is on the other side of the bed. In this modern era, and at £200 a night (even in Oct!), a shared bathroom / toilet is not acceptable (all of my rooms are ensuite); so it never even occurred to me to check that the rooms might not be ensuite at that price 😳 We stayed two nights and as such the room was tidied during our stay - but - all the towels that we had used were folded up ‘as new’ and put back on the rail amongst the unused towels. As conscientious eco friendly users we thought this an odd thing to do. We wanted to use the minimum amount of towels possible, but I had no idea what I had or hadn’t used so quite probably the whole lot would have to be washed unnecessarily after our stay, when we restricted ourselves to using just one towel each. Based on Verena’s system, keeping your towels in your room makes sense, however there is only a pretty metal stand on which to hang them up, there is not the usual radiator on which they can be hung to dry / air when damp.

We found this to be a nice hotel and good value for the time of year. The hotel itself is very historical, and served as a hotel for hundreds of years, establishing as a place for religious pilgrims to go. The patron saint of Switzerland is buried at the church next-door. The hotel isn't fancy, and you do self-check in. It worked pretty well, and folks at the bar/restaurant will help if you are stuck - people working at the hotel are friendly and helpful. There is a decent elevator (which is not a given in Europe) and the included breakfast is reasonable. We had a junior suite for our party of 3, and it was basic but nicely appointed. Only problem is that the pull out couch was super uncomfortable, so my daughter just slept on it as a couch. There is no air conditioning, which isn't a problem most of the time, I'm sure. We had dinner at the restaurant downstairs one night and it was fantastic! Both food and service were outstanding, and a great find in a small town like Sachseln. We liked basing in Sachseln - all of the charm of Lucerne without the crowds and high prices, and close to places like Interlaken, Lauterbrunnen, and Grindlewald. One more warning: the church next door has bells ringing a lot. Our junior suite didn't have a lake view and I am glad because lake view would have been directly by the church so the bells would have been louder!

Auf der Durchreise haben wir ohne Reservation zu dritt einen schönen Tisch am Fenster bekommen. Wir haben je zwei Vorspeisen bestellt. Die Kürbiscremesuppe und die Süsskartoffelsuppe mit Riesencrevetten kamen sehr heiss auf den Tisch und waren geschmacklich hervorragend. Die gedämpften Spinatknödel mit Bergkäse wie auch der Rettichsalat mit Feigen waren eine wunderbare Geschmackssymphonie, kaum zu übertreffen. Die Bedienung war sehr aufmerksam und obwohl sie viele Tische allein betreute, sehr freundlich und schnell. Das nächste Mal kommen wir mit grösserem Hunger! Die stilvolle Einrichtung hat uns auch sehr gut gefallen.

Sehr gute Lage, schöne und ruhige Umgebung. Saubere und schöne Zimmer. Die Küche ist komplett ausgestattet. Freundlicher Besitzer, der jederzeit hilfsbereit ist. Ich freue mich auf meine nächste Buchung

Wir haben nicht im Hotel gegessen. Auch kein Frühstück, weil wir am Morgen weider früh gegangen sind.

Cet endroit est magique. Après le départ des touristes le soir, vous profitez d'un calme absolu. L'accueil et le service sont irréprochables. Le buffet du petit-déjeuner et le repas du soir avec appéritif sont excellents et le personnel chaleureux. A ne pas manquer le levé et le coucher du soleil !

No proper parking, it’s outside and not controlled, first come first served. They don’t particularly like families with children and they make you feel it. They target pensioners. No effort is made to make you feel welcomed or comfortable compared to other hotels. Staff don’t smile. If you don’t ask you are not explained anything. No indoor stairs could be found. One tiny elevator for the whole place makes it a nerve wrecking experience in the mornings. Staff and cleaners use the same elevator as guests. They count every pillow and every little thing around. Handkerchief is counted at breakfast. Swimming pool can be reached through a long walk from the corridors, lobby, restaurant and all that while you must be wearing the bathrobe. Kids don’t get one unless you ask for one which you may or may not get in few hours. The rooms are cheap, torn and shabby curtains and sofa, but they have a view to the lake. Minibars are empty and they only supply one small sparkling water. Swiss hotels have great service, this place does not have a Swiss feel.

Ankunft am Ruhetag. Schlüssel lagen bei der Rezeption. Die Zimmer zu finden war nicht so ganz einfach. Badezimmer gegenüber der Schlafzimmer. Sehr ungewöhnlich. Das Haus ist sehr hellhörig, man hört jeden Schritt und auch wenn sich die Gäste in den Nebenzimmern unterhalten. Am nächsten Morgen wurden wir von Baustellenlärm geweckt. Auch eine freundliche Begrüßung, als wir zum Frühstück gingen, hat gefehlt! Es wurde lediglich gefragt, ob wir Hotelgäste sind??? Beim Frühstück auf der Terrasse konnten wir uns auch wegen des Baulärms nicht unterhalten! Die Hotelinhaber bekamen wir ebenfalls nicht zu sehen. Alles in allem: Bei dem Preis (180 SFR/Nacht/2 Personen) kann man mehr erwarten. Das Haus ist schlecht isoliert, hat keine Klimaanlage und es fehlte vor allem an Freundlichkeit.