My husband and I will be visiting Zermatt the first week of May. Anyone have any suggestions on where to stay? We would like to spend under $125 US per night. I've heard the Hotel Garni Testa Grigia is nice, but would appreciate hearing from someone who has stayed there. Also, I've noticed that several hotels are closed during May. Will we still enjoy a few days in the area, even if the town is somewhat shutdown?

Try www.zermatt.ch. There is a British version. <BR> <BR>If you are going to be in Zermatt for more than 4 nights, see if you cannot bargain with the owner of a vacation apartment. Usually they want a week's worth of staying, but in late May the market is not booming so they become more agreeable. Around Zermatt most of the Swiss can manage enough English to take your money, and they know that a vacant room is money lost forever. But watch out for the "final cleaning" charge -- Endreinigung in German. It can equal one day's rent. And some Swiss even respond to email. <BR> <BR>We stayed in apartments in Lauterbrunnen and Saas Grund, about an hour away from Zermatt, for about $65 -$70 a night, including taxes and Endreinigung. We had comfortable rooms and the use of a kitchen and shower. I would not do it any other way, except for one night stands. In fact the apartment in Saas Grund had two bedrooms, one small, one medium, a bath and a half, and an equipped kitchen, eating, and sitting area. At $60 a night (weekly rate) I thought it was a real bargain compared to the $120 a night hotel with only a much smaller room and no kitchen. I can tote my own suitcase from the car into the house and hit the market for food. <BR>(And load up on Swiss goodies at the bakery!! Not a nutrious meal but boy does it taste good. Hey, its vacation.) <BR> <BR>If you are interested in Saas Grund, which is near Saas Fee and its awesome glaciers, let me know at my email address and I will fill you in. You will need a rental car; no train goes to the Valley of the Saaser Visper river and all the little Saases. <BR> <BR>We ran over to Zermatt, did the Gornergrat ride, came back before dark. <BR>We were ready to go again the next day, but it was raining.

Thanks, Bob, for the Zermatt area information. Unfortunately, we will not have a car --- we're using an 8-day Swiss Pass. Anyone else out there have any recommendations?

The Swiss Pass is awesome! My husband and I had a 15 day Swiss Pass for our trip in October. It was great to have the freedom to hop on a train on a whim. Even the expensive journeys are covered, such as the Glacier Express from Zermatt to St. Moritz. We only had to pay a reservation fee of 9 or 12 SF each. The postal buses and almost all urban transit are covered as well. You can get almost anywhere by postal bus in Switzerland. The pass also gives you discounts on private trains and gondolas, such as the Gonergrat and Klein Matterhorn. <BR> <BR>We stayed at the Hotel Butterfly in Zermatt. It is part of the Best Western chain, but still felt very European. The rooms were very nice. We were there in October and some places were closed, but I think it made it more enjoyable than having the town mobbed with tourists. There are many nice hikes in the area, or you can take a train ride to the Gonergrat or a gondola to the Klein Matterhorn. The gondola to the Klein Matterhorn was our most impressive gondola ride in all of Switzerland.

I've been fortunate enough to visit Zermatt twice, and both times I stayed at the Hotel Alpenblick. It is a 3 star hotel and ran about $125/night for a double in 1997. I found the rooms to be comfortable, roomy, and very clean. The staff are friendly. Best part -- it is one of the closest hotels to the Matterhorn (away from the busier train station area) and the rooms have balconies with spectacular views of the Matterhorn. But whatever hotel you choose, I'm sure it will be a great choice, as I have yet to hear about a bad hotel in Zermatt. We posted a travelogue of our '97 European trip at http://www.lunadesigns.com/travels/. If you go to the page on Zermatt, you'll see photographs and at the bottom of the page is a link to the Hotel Alpenblick's web page. By the way, I can't imagine the town being shut down in May -- maybe a few things will be closed, but I'm sure it'll be fine. For more info on Zermatt, there is a great informative site located at http://www.ski-zermatt.com.

Thanks, Anna for the information on the Hotel Butterfly. I faxed them and they will be closed during the month of May. Nicole, I emailed the Hotel Alpenblick and haven't heard anything from them yet. Thanks for the help!

Thanks everyone for the information. Has anyone stayed at the Hotel Orion? We can reserve a room for two people for 160CH per night. Their sister hotel is Hotel Julen. (The rates for the Hotel Julen are 285CH!!! Too much!) Has anyone stayed at the Orion? Our meals will be at the Hotel Julen. Also, anyone know anything about the Hotel Testa Grigia Garni?