Any recommendations for a hotel in the Interlaken (or general Berner Oberland area)? <BR>Moderate price.

Depends how long you'll be there and what you plan to visit. If it's Interlaken only for a few days, the Stella Hotel is a good bet. If you're staying longer, the transportation hub for the area is Lauterbrunnen, which is 10 minutes south. Wengen is a few minutes uphill from there by train and is a worthwhile place to consider. It's car free but has plenty of hotels and other facilities. From the standpoint of sheer "wow", however, you will want to consider Murren, which is at least 30 minutes away by funicular and cog rail. It's much quieter, has fewer tourists, and has the Jungfrau, Monch, and Eiger "in your face". It's a spectacular town. From there, you can take a cable car to the Schilthorn, which is where James Bond did his thing a while back. The drawback to Murren is that it will take extra time from there to the other places in the valley. Worth it, in my opinion. One of the better hotels is the Eiger, which faces the railroad station. Don't know the room cost, however. There are several others nearby.

Another strong recommendation for Mürren. Don't know what your idea of moderate might be. A range of suggestions to be found at <BR>www.twenj.com/swisshtlbo.htm

Just a quick suggestion in case you really do want to stay down at lake level, which, by the way, is gorgeous. (If you are going there to be in the mountains all the time, then ignore this message.) A couple of summers ago we stayed on Thunersee (Lake Thun) in the tiny town of Leissigen (just a spit away from Interlaken toward Thun and Berne). We stayed in an inexpensive, unpretentious little 2-star called the Hirschen. Nothing fancy but really nice people and the restaurant was a favorite of the townfolk. By moderate you probably mean 3-star, and we did see a good one--It's the Kreuz and its website is kreuz-leissigen.ch. By the way, there are excellent train and boat possibilites along that shore; visit Thun and Berne if you can. Have a wonderful time. You can't go wrong in the Berner Oberland.

We stayed at the Hotel Lotschberg in Interlaken a couple of years ago. Very nice, clean hotel, good basic breakfast for about $100 per night. Suzi and Fritz, the owners, were very helpful. Also, the train station is within walking distance and the hotel's around the corner from the grocery station. Have Fun!

We stayed at the Hotel du Lac right on one of the lakes. It was moderate in the off season, especially if you took half board. (We had veal every night!) A convenient feature is it's within walking distance of the Interlaken East train stop. (there are 2 train stops in Interlaken) Very easy to take side trips to the Jungfrau, Grindelwald and elsewhere, as well as to travel to the airport in Zurich. The location is a little away from the main tourist area, which we preferred. They have a website through Best Western (www.bestwestern.ch/dulacinterlaken)