Zermatt Hotel choice-advice politely requested
 

Hello,

I will soon be spending a week (skiing) in Zermatt. I have narrowed my hotel choices down to three. I was wondering if anyone has any opinions on any of these three (which are 4 star B&Bs).
I do not need romantic (I am traveling with a ski buddy), but I would like a great view and a nice place.
Here are the choices:

Hotel Allalin
Hotel Beau-Rivage
Hotel Pollux

Other advice (hotel or otherwise) is always welcome from this board!

Thanks,
Tim

I'm topping this as it has already slipped about three pages. I only know the Hotel Julen, but surely somebody knows these. Tim, if you don't get any responses in a day or two, I'd suggest you repost with this title -- "Allain, Beau-Rivage, or Pollux in Zermatt?"

Have stayed at the Jaegerhof and Adonis and will be returning to Zermatt in September for a week.

Julen (ate there-great food, especially the desert buffet)is 4-star vs three for the two we stayed at. Prices considerably higher.

I'll get the prices and post. All three have web sites

Ron

Here are the prices I found:

Adonis 60-90 sf per person

Jaegerhof 82-107 sf per person

Julen 138-216 sf per person

The latter includes dinner. All include taxes & buffet breakfast. Adonis has no restaurant.

Hope this helps. The weak $ doesn't!!!

Ron

Thanks for the responses. I am still holding out hope that:

1. Someone on this forum has stayed at the Hotel Allalin (where I have reservations).

2. The dollar strengthens (or at least holds) as I have NOT prepaid my lodging.

Any other Zermatt tips????

Hotel Perren.Good location, great view [depending on the room] but as it's some time since I stayed there I don't remember the price. I imagine expensive as this was a splurge for me. I'm sure they have a web site.

I posted this a few months ago as part of another thread on Zermatt, but can't find the thread now.

If you think you are going to ski everyday, then a 6 day pass will save you a bit of money. However, if you think you will want to rest for a day or do some sightseeing, then purchasing a ticket each day you ski may be cheaper, esp if you are going to Cervinia on at least one day. Remember that if on your day(s) off you want to go up one of the mountains (there is snowshoeing, hiking and sledding in many areas, esp Gornegrat) you have to purchase a train/cable car pass anyway (although cheaper than a ski pass). In that case, the 6 day pass may be better.

Another consideration is weather. If you are there in a really cold week, you may not want to ski one or more days, so if you have purchased a 6-day ticket you are wasting money. If it is really cold or windy they may close cable cars; not sure if you are entitled to a refund in that case but knowing the Swiss (I live here) I doubt it. February tends to be sunny and milder, so a 6-day pass may be a better investment.

As you know, you can go over to Cervinia in Italy and ski there for the day. You do not need a passport to make the trip. Although the skiing is very good and the trails are wider than in Zermatt, it is kind of a pain to get there and back. It will take about an hour to get up by a series of cable cars. Make sure you are at the first cable car about 20-30 minutes before the lifts open so you can be in one of the first cars; after that there are lines at each cable car that will add more to you travel time. Skiing back down from Cervinia involves a long and IMO boring run that is icy, windblown and full of other tired skiers at the end of the day. If you get over to Cervinia early, you can head back earlier and maybe miss the end of the day crowds, esp on the one narrow trail heading back into Zermatt at the bottom of the Klein Matterhorn area.

A great restaurant in Cervinia is Café Etoile. It is on the slopes just up from the Plan Maison lift. I could not find a phone number, but your hotel probably can. I would definitely recommend making a lunch reservation (your hotel can call), as it gets very crowded. They have a large outdoor seating area. On a sunny day there is nothing better than sitting out and having some of their great soup and pasta.

On the Gornegrat, good places for lunch are the cafeteria at the Riffelberg (cheap and cheerful and a large outdoor area) or the RiffelAlp (more expensive and gourmet and a large outdoor area with heaters if it is cold.) Both have fantastic views of the Matterhorn.

My favourite place for lunch on the mountain is Chez Vrony (41- 967 2552), which is a trailside restaurant in the charming hamlet of Findeln, reached from the Sunnega ski area. Definitely make a reservation. Great fondue on their outdoor terrace, some of which have lounger seats to really relax and take in the view.

If you are staying in downtown Zermatt, the underground train to Sunegga is the fastest and best way to get to Sunegga. Gornegrat and Sunegga are my favourite two areas in Zermatt.

Unless there is a ton of snow, the bottom portions of the trails into downtown Zermatt will be bare, and you may end up walking and carrying your skis. This is especially true for the trails down into Zermatt from the Gornegrat and Sunegga areas.

A small but annoying thing is that many of the trail maps you will be given will fall apart as soon as you open them. Palm-size and much hardier maps with cardboard covers can be find at the Alpine Center in Zermatt (it is on the main street, a few blocks down from the train station on the right walking toward the Matterhorn.)

Shops in Zermatt generally close for 1-2 hours during lunchtime, so bear this in mind if you take time off to shop. Shopping is expensive.

There are moonlight/nightskiing trips offered with guides which are great. Take a look at http://bergbahnen.zermatt.ch/e/angebote/

If you haven?t; already found it, there is a live webcam of various parts of the mountain at http://bergbahnen.zermatt.ch/e/web-cam/

One more thing I forget to mention. If you are on the Gornegrat at the end of the day and want to avoid skiing all the way down (and potentially having to walk) ski down to the RiffleAlp Hotel and take the cog railway down the mountain into central Zermatt. A great way to end the day is to make a last run down the Gornegrat (love the chute between Riffleberg and RiffleAlp! You will know what I mean when you ski it) and have a drink in the outdoor bar and restaurant at the RiffleAlp as the sun sets behind the Matterhorn. Then ski about 200 yards over to the RiffleAlp station stop on the cog railway and go back down to Zermatt.

I believe you could take the underground train from Sunegga back down to Zermatt at the end of the day as well. This would save a long run over from Sunegga to Zermatt which often has no snow and you end of walking.

Tim -

Can't help with your hotel choices. We've stayed at the Hotel Biner on several occasions and we really liked it. It's 3 star, but has some very nice A+ category rooms with nice views of the Matterhorn and a good breakfast.

You've already gotten excellent advice from Cicerone. All I can add is a few restaurant recommendations - The Walliserkanne and the Broken Pizzeria in the Post Hotel are both worth a look. Good food and reasonable prices (well, reasonable for Zermatt.)

Have a great trip!

Thanks for all of the help!

Tim

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