dan

i am interested in ideas on recommended hotels and/or restaurants in saas fee as we will staying there for about 4-5 days in early Aug as our daughter is ski training.

Di

I found Saas Fee TERRIBLE! People were rude, and greedy towards tourists, especially Americans. Food was generally overpriced and awful. As for accommodations, where did Fodor's stay? I found the recommendation for Hotel Allalin simply WRONG. Hotel services were minimal and sometimes non-existent, ie no clean linens for days without several requests, and Hotel staff was rude, neglectful, even hostile sometimes. This made for a most unpleasant stay. Wouldn't go again. Rest of Switzerland was most enjoyable.

Bob Brown

Hi Dan. When I was in that area, I stayed in an apartment in Saas Grund, which is down the hill from Saas Fee. <BR>My major objection to Saas Fee is that you have to pay to park in a fancy deck for any kind of visit. <BR>You may get a reduction if you are staying at a hotel, or eat in a restaurant. <BR>What we paid for the apartment was about half of what a hotel would cost. We had two bedrooms, one large the other small. <BR>And we had a "sitting" room with easy chairs, a table, and a kitchen corner that was fully equipped. <BR>I would recommend Haus Robinson where we stayed for the week, but Frau Zurbriggen speaks no English. I got by with my meager German. Her son Adrian speaks <BR>English (Texas high school for 1 year), but he lives in Zürich. <BR>The bottom line is that you can stay more cheaply in an apartment than a hotel, and Saas Grund is not the tourist mecca that Saas Fee is. But transportation between the two can be a little of a problem. However, the Post Bus service is quite efficient. It would be no more expensive, probably less for 2 round trips per day than paying those parking fees. <BR> <BR>Apartments usually rent on a weekly basis and August is still the high season. Saas Grund, Saas Alamagell, and Saas Balen as well as Saas Fee have apartments. If you are interested, the web will give you the address of the Tourist office in Saas Grund, and the office staff was quite helpful to me by sending brochures and the like. <BR> <BR>

susaneva

Di, <BR> <BR>I am sorry to hear of the bad experience you had in Saas Fee. My husband and I were there in September, and thought it was absolutely beautiful. We had only intended to stay one night, on our way between Lausanne and Venice. However, we so enjoyed the hiking that we rearranged our plans to return for three more days at the end of our trip. Our hotel was pleasant and we purchased half pension. The food was some of the best we had on our trip. The whole Saas valley is beautiful, and as Mr. Brown says, there are many villages in which to stay. Saas Balen is too low in altitude for my taste, as you cannot see the glaciers. To wake up in the morning with the sound of cowbells from the high pasture and look around at the 4000 meter peaks and glaciers that surround this beautiful town was worth a second visit to me. I hope your experience was an isolated one, and that others will not be discouraged from visiting.

bob_brown

I had no trouble in Saas Fee. We went there for dinner and everything was fine. What little shopping we did was in Saas Grund which is a town where Swiss people live rather than hoards of tourists.

It helped that I can speak a meager amount of poor German.

LoveItaly

Why is a thread from 2000 pulled up? Just wondering. This thread is almost nine years old.

tower

NT:

look at the bright side...we were all 9 years younger then!

love
Stu

LoveItaly

Hey Stu, you are right!

Btw, I need to contact you. I am half way through your fantastic book "The Wayfayers" that you wrote. I am enthralled with your book! I have mentioned it on several threads on Fodor's but no Fodorite seems to pay attention. Their lost! I am on page 272. I kept waiting for some one with authority to destroy their legal papers..I knew that would happen..and it did.

I do hope at some point a movie can be made although I always find movies lacking compared to books but at the same time the person that wanted to produce your book would do an excellent job I am sure.

Love and hugs to you and your family.

bob_brown

I did not look at the date. Just the topic.
I don't know what caused it to rise to the top either. I did not go hunting for it.