Bern Hotels

Bern Hotel Reviews

Bern has plenty of quality hotels, many of them splendorous with 19th-century characteristics: lobbies with 20-foot-tall ceilings ornately tinged with stucco moldings; balconies with curlicue Belle Epoque iron railings; domed corner turrets; and miles of marble floors. A step or two below, price-wise, are some older venues that still tend toward the generic. But today's owners and managers are waking up to the fact that flowered prints and dusty blue carpeting are just a little too 1980s, even if they're very clean. These new entrepreneurs are ripping up old flooring to expose and polish up the often centuries-old parquet underneath; they're whitewashing the walls; installing state-of-the-art entertainment systems; upgrading the bathrooms (or just plain adding them); and fixing up the rooms with simple, modular furniture that keeps the prices at a level the average tourist can afford.

Given Bern's geographical characteristics, almost all the hotels listed in this chapter are located within the same medieval central-city core—which can easily be crossed on foot in 10 minutes at most. Most of the streets are pedestrian, or "traffic-calmed" to the extent that most drivers don't venture into the Old Town at all. What this all adds up to: leave your car in a parking lot for the duration of your stay, as you'll have plenty of opportunity to wander the streets on foot.

What's true of practically every hotel staff member in Bern is that they are professional, helpful, cheerful, accommodating, and—this is Switzerland after all—most of them speak at least three languages comfortably, and one of those is sure to be English. If you can, be sure to book in advance—music festivals, trade conventions, markets, sports events, and parliamentary sessions (March, June, September, and December) can fill rooms fast. Rates drop on weekends, when there is less demand.

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