We were pleasantly impressed with our 4-person private room. Besides having to share 2 bathrooms…read moreamong 5 rooms on the floor (which we rarely had to wait for), we were very happy with the balcony view from the 2nd floor, the availability of amenities like a hairdryer, as well as a fully stocked kitchen and dining area. Everything was clean, and the reception staff were friendly. Excellent value for what we paid! We would 100% stay again.

Surprised that there aren't more reviews of this place on Yelp. I've just enjoyed a weekend stay at…read morethis hostel after a previous 1 night visit 10 years ago. This was the perfect and affordable location to enjoy Lauterbrunnen. The (dorm) price at 30 CHF is reasonable, but the dorm experience reminded me that it's also dependent on the guests, with etiquette and sleeping habits proving to be highly variable among the other guests. While that was a source of slight irritation to me, it also made me appreciate choosing the "upper" (loft-style) bunk in my room and focus on other aspects of the hostel's experience, including a wide-ranging worldly group of guests and the amusing reality of the longer you stay, the more senior you become, which was particularly apparent over the course of a weekend.

We had a wonderful stay in September. Tim was an excellent host-- very reasonable, helpful and…read moreotherwise personable. We found out after our arrival that this appears to attract almost exclusively readers of Rick Steve's guides (admittedly this is how we found out about it, too). However, it turns out this demographic is largely retired people. While one couple our age was there, meals were shared with a group who had been making an annual pilgrimage since retirement and an Australian couple just passing through. Tim did a great job communicating the possibility that dinner would not be cooked if Walter (the proprietor) didn't feel well or not enough people requested it, so it was no surprise when we needed to find our own meal at the pension down the street on the first night. Tim also let us rent hiking poles (which turned out to be essential) very cheaply, and while we ended up on a bit of an ambitious hike considering our fitness level, we felt very prepared with Tim's advice and the map he drew. There were no private rooms when we booked, but Tim let us take two beds in the quad room, which he kindly pushed together. No one rented the other two beds, but I wasn't sure whether Tim purposefully blocked them off for us or they just weren't filled. Either way, the view from the balcony was beautiful! The cows across the street wore bells that sounded like wind chimes, so for us city folk it was a happy medium between mountain quiet and street noise. There are about 3-5 other B&B/pension/hostel-type establishments in the village part of Gimmelwald. Hotel Mittaghorn is a 5-minute walk uphill beyond the village (or 10-15 with luggage taking the longer but paved and less steep route). The entire village consists of about 20 buildings: 3-5 B&B/pension/hostels, and then a bunch of cottages and barns. I'd return to Gimmelwald and Hotel Mittaghorn but I might split up my stay to see what the other places in the village are like.

We didn't stay here, but we had pizza and beer here twice. There are not many options for food in…read moreGimmelwald, so competition is not a factor. Needless to say, I wasn't excited about the "famous" pizza when I first heard about it. But, the kids were hungry and we weren't about to head back up the hill to Mürren. I am glad we tried it: I think their pizza is good by at-home, large city standards and fantastic given the location! As far as food goes, I think the menu at the hostel is limited to pizza, but it is executed well and definitely worthwhile. In addition to the pizza, they have a small bar with two beers on tap: light and dark. While we were there, they were out of the dark, but their light was very drinkable and the local craft brews available in bottles are good as well. I had a hoppy amber that really hit the spot on our last evening in town. I think it was called "Two Jocks" As of this writing, you can get a cheese and tomato pizza for 16 CHF and can add up to 4 toppings for an additional 3 or so CHF. Even better, the pies are ready really quickly! I recommend using some of the chili oil on the tables if you want to spice things up a bit. Pizza and beer makes a great, no-brainer end of day meal after a long day of hiking around the area. They also have soft drinks and other harder stuff at the bar (Jack Daniel's, for instance). If you don't want to stay, you can order the pizza to go and eat it in your room. Just remember that pizzas are not typically served pre-cut in Europe, so you may need a knife if you're sharing :)

Amazing views!! Right on the edge of a mountain. Clean hostel. Everyone does their own dishes here…read more Family style, homey feel. Free breakfast is offered. Only down side is there is one bathroom for everyone with 3 toilets and 3 showers. You also have to pay 1 frank to shower for 8 minutes of hot water because the hot water is limited up in the mountain! Lol. The views and location make up for everything! They have a free laundry room here as well and free billiards room. Also really good beer! 1/2 liter for $5 at the hostel bar. Cheaper than the brewery next door and it's the same beer.

Originally, we wanted to stay at Balmers hostel because we needed a place to crash while in…read moreInterlaken. Unfortunately, we didn't book enough in advance and was stuck between the Funny Farm or The Barn. With such limited information online from websites such as hostelworld, we decided to go wth the Funny Farm. Let me say that this is by far the worst hostel I've stayed at in terms of cleanliness and service. The entire building is super old and dusty. The furniture was probably donated or grabbed off of Craigslist's free section and the service isn't the best. Staff seemed to be more interested in doing the minimum for us. Our room was supposed to be a mixed gender six bed hostel, but when we walked in it was an eight bed. When asked about this, it was stated that the other beds were reserved and would not be rented out? Seemed sketchy to me. Additionally, there are no lockers for your personals, no ladders for the bunk beds, the rooms were super dusty, the bathroom was similar to that of a cruise ship's bathroom meaning it was extremely dank and small. For those of us who are over 5'10 (I'm 6'), you'll need to crouch, so that you can enjoy the beautiful mold and black residue left on the wall of the shower. For the price of 30 francs, I expected more. However with all things considered, it was in a convenient location and easily accessible from the bus stop. It seems like a lot of Chinese and South Korean tourists come to Interlaken, so you'll see these people around the hostel. Most likely, in the same situation as us meaning this hostel was not their first choice. There was also a fraternity or college kids who rented out a good majority of the rooms, so lots of noise. On top of this, stones/rocks seem to be the item of choice to decorate and hold doors here (see pics). Nonetheless, I visited The Barn located in the back, also owned by the same people. I spoke to the guy who owns the place and actually checked The Barn out myself. Let me say this, The Barn is a hundred times worse than The Funny Farm, which is the only reason I am giving The Funny Farm two stars rather than the lowest score possible. Tl;dr The Funny Farm is not the first, second, or third pick for most. Will you survive? Yes.

The Funny Farm is EFFING WEIRD. Which is a good thing, IMO. Located in gorgeous Interlaken,…read moreSwitzerland, the Funny Farm is a hostel designed for youthful backpackers who don't mind the loss of much personal space and who likely don't spend a lot of time in beds or hanging around the hostel when they are backpacking. Onsite, the Funny Farm offers you all the amenities for enjoying the great outdoors of Switzerland - you can sign up for bouldering, canyoning, cliff diving, river rafting, etc. On the grounds, the Funny Farm has a large sunny pool area with a large diving board, a Space Camp with large outdoor seating, and there's always a couple of guys smoking weed, passing around a pipe, and selling the hash if that's up your alley, talking about how the man totally harshes my mellow, yo. If it helps at all, I got into a deep philosophical and HUGELY IMPORTANT conversation of which I can recall very little about Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas and the philosophy of The Simpsons here with some hippies from Sweden. I feel this kind of thing happens a lot at The Funny Farm.

This was by far the biggest hostel with the most to do than any hostel I have ever stayed in the…read moreworld. I love how everything is set up for numerous places to chill comfortably. Two different buildings with pianos and one has a guitar. Pool table, dart boards grill, bar, nightclub below ground and activities every day. Don't let me forget to mention the huge kitchen. The biggest kitchen in any hostel I have ever stayed in. Maybe because this hostel is huge. They've been doing this since 1907 and these folks know what they are doing and do it well. I definitely recommend that you check this place out!

I stayed at this hostel for 4 nights and I loved my entire stay. I stayed in a 10 bed mixed shared…read moredorm; the room was spacious and very clean. I loved the huge window in the room, the view was beautiful and it always smelled fresh and crisp. Furthermore, the bathrooms are nice and kept very clean. I loved the showers, I spent 3 months in over 12 hostels in Europe and the showers at Balmer's were my favorite! Very modern and well thought out. Now for the most important part, the vibe here is amazing! Since it's Interlaken, you'll meet a lot of adventurous people who'll be down to go on day trips and excursions, which was amazing for me as a solo traveler. There's not much to do in the area at night so a lot of people from the hostel gather to play board games and chill - these were some of my favorite nights of my entire trip. It's not the most social hostel because the staff doesn't plan events so your fun will depend on the guests staying while you're there, but lucky for me it was a great night every night. There's also a foosball table and a hot tub, need I say more? As for location, it's walking distance to the Interlaken Ost train station, a bus stop (that can take you to and from the Interlaken West train station), and numerous markets/shops. Note: The hostel gives you a free bus pass upon checking in, you can use the bus pass to ride the city busses for free! The only negative is that laundry is very expensive, I paid the equivalent of $25 to wash and dry one small load of laundry. I was shocked. Plan your trip so that you do laundry right before you arrive here, or wait until you leave. Overall, this hostel is a gem. I already have my second stay booked this summer!!!

We looked for a great place to stay that was clean. It resides above a bar and grill. After…read morestaying in a rundown Florence hotel with a semi-plugged drain, anything was acceptable beyond bed bugs. Surprisingly, this hotel was recently renovated as well as had full-time cleaners to clean rooms. A few gripes and kudos: Noisy like the walls are thin. Lots of modern toilets, bathroom sinks/faucets, power receptacles. Sink in room Floor squeaks like hell and vibrates. Bad install should have screwed all bad boards down before putting laminate over and reinforced floor. I was actually quite happy that this hotel was quite good and recommend this to anyone staying in Switzerland. Of course, this is considered a hostel, so it is basically shared eating, bathrooms, and bathing areas that are shared, not unlike your college dorm.. So if you can give up a little privacy, then you save quite a bit of money with this. I would definitely stay here again. There is a really cool bar downstairs that sells bar food and beer. I ordered the BBQ mix and a pitcher of blonde beer. That sure was great. Looking forward to another meal here with beer if I can get one in once again.

Clean, quiet, easy to find, and kind staff! I loved my stay at Happy Inn Lodge. I met amazing women…read morein my dorm and the showers were so wonderful after cold adventures in the mountains. It's located not far from Interlaken West Station and just down the street from a bus stop. The pub downstairs has a great staff, offers comfort food that's just fine, and nice beer. The rooms were warm and cozy too. The main downside to the hostel was the kitchen and the lack of an oven or stove which makes it difficult as a traveler on a budget. They do provide a rice cooker and with some scrappy cooking, quite a bit can be made in it. There was also construction going on the street, but whatcha gonna do ‍ I definitely loved my time in this little lodge!

This is a cute little hotel/hostel conveniently located right in the middle of Interlaken. The room…read morewas nice and spacious (and for some reason had an extra sink right by the bed). The option for bike rentals was amazing, and we definitely took advantage of that to explore more of the city. Overall it's a decent hotel with everything you could need!

From the owner: Herzlich willkommen im charmanten Boutique Hostel Alplodge direkt am Fluss in Interlaken. Hier…read morefinden Sie Zimmer in jeder Grösse und für jedes Budget, vom Einzelzimmer, über Doppel- und Familienzimmer bis zum Mehrbettzimmer für bis zu sechs Personen. Dazu kommen umfassende Hostel-Services und Zusatzleistungen vom "Penthouse"-Aufenthaltsraum mit Küche und Aussichtsterrasse bis zu Waschmaschine, Trockner, gratis WLan und vieles mehr. Mit ihrer idealen Lage mitten in Interlaken ist die Alplodge perfekt für junge und junggebliebene Backpacker, für Budget-Ferien in Interlaken sowie als Ausgangspunkt für Events und Abenteuer oder für Ausflüge in die Jungfrau-Region und in die ganze Schweiz. Treten Sie ein und schauen Sie sich um - wir freuen uns auf Sie!