Would like personal experiences on hotels in Bern. We will be there in May for about 3 nights and would prefer inexpensive, but quaint and attractive. Yes, I have guidebooks but would like personal recommendations. Thanks

Good afternoon, Alice <BR>We have used the Hotel METROPOLE, Zeughausgasse, 28 which is a three <BR>star hotel with 58 rooms located a <BR>couple of blocks from the RR Station. <BR>However check into www.swisshotels.ch <BR>and under Bern, you will get a complete <BR>listing of hotels therein. Also in <BR>www.hotelguide.ch/ check the same, Bern <BR>is an interesting town, and one ristorante to check out is the KORNHAUSKELLER, Kornhausplatz,18 <BR>Took a half day city tour from the tourist office in the rr station, one <BR>morning, was very interesting and a <BR>nice way to get the lay of the city.. <BR>Richard of Hickory Hills, IL...

Thanks a bunch for the e-mail addresses and for the restaurant and tour recommendations.

Hi Alice, <BR> <BR>My husband and 2 kids were in Bern for 3 days, May '99. It is a beautiful city, very easy to walk around and enjoy. We stayed at the Goldener Schlussel Hotel-Restaurant, Rathausgasse 72, Tel. 031 311 02 16. It was very quaint, central and the owners were very helpful. Breakfasts were a highlight too!! Don't get excited about the bear pits as they really are 'the pits'!! Apart from this, we had a lovely time in Bern.Enjoy!!

In July we stayed in Bern for several nights at the Schwiezerhof, an absolutely beautiful 5 star hotel, 2 stars up from our usual stay. We decided to splurge partly because we were using Bern as a base for several days of train trips out and would catch the early TGV to Paris from there. The hotel is right across from the train station, literally walk across the street --in fact by now the construction may be done on the underpass and you can come up from the terminal right at the hotel. We got a good deal, weekend rates through Leading Hotels of the World, which was a surprise -- one of the few times I've been given a lower rate than contacting the hotel directly. We paid about $175 a night for the three weekend nights -- which is probably less than half the usual rate -- had to prepay in US though. As I said it was a beautiful hotel and the location couldn't have been better, not only for the station, but right in the heart of everything. We had looked at several small charming hotels, but in central Bern they were just as expensive as this one, and no weekend specials.