Historisches Hotel Bären

Nice scenery

Absolutely horrified. There ware bugs in the bedding. Our beds had live crawling bugs . After discovering ,saff was notified. They came had a look but ware unapologetic about it . They put changed our room literally next to the same room which was infested. They offered an upgrade to be further from bugs but ware demanding payment. Surely if room allocated to a guest was infested with bugs ,the hotel should have at least upgraded the guests as a good gesture and not demand further payment.

We stayed for a week in the self-catering apartments opposite the hotel, which were perfect for us as we wanted the freedom to prepare our own meals. The staff are very kind, friendly, and helpful. We had breakfast in the hotel every morning and it was very good. The apartments have all the basics that you need to prepare simple meals and there is plenty of space to relax in the evening. The beds were comfortable and it's very peaceful; we slept well after our hikes! The hotel is perfectly situated for many hikes in the valley; we walked to Alpenruh, climbed the Gerihorn, went up to Griesalp, Gamchi, and Obergumpel. We also took a drive to Kandersteg and swam in the lake at Oschinensee. If staying ask about the gästekarte as it gives you discounts on certain activities and also free rides on the Kiental chairlift. A great holiday. Will definitely stay again.

We booked the Junior Suite for four nights in the end of our trip to get some luxury and relaxation. When we arrived to the hotel, we got an outdated, unfresh room that looked nothing like the rooms on the pictures on ***********. The beds were poor, the cleaning was not good, the interior outdated and unfresh. The room felt nothing like a hotel, but more like a very basic hostel. The only nice thing was the mountain view. We were told that we had gotten the room that we booked and that there where no other rooms available. We claimed that the room we thought we had booked was the newly renovated, luxurious Junior Suite but they meant that it was not what we had booked. In the end, we decided to leave the hotel without staying there at all. Instead of paying 4 nights we only had to pay 1/2 night (~65 CHF). Since the staff was nice and the owner tried to help us through this inconvenience we accepted the deal.

We know this valley very well and the location was exactly as we expected for this village. Superb views from the balconies - ours was enormous. The outdoor furniture was not up to the standard of the interior, but adequate. The service from the young seasonal staff was very good indeed and the breakfasts were 'made' by the superb bread, rolls and croissants from the bakery opposite. Months ago we booked this hotel 'with restaurant' for a week's mountain walking. The website changed to an uninteresting fixed menu for residents two weeks before our arrival, which was disappointing but no reason to cancel. On our arrival there were NO EVENING MEALS AT ALL - the young seasonal staff gave the reason as "lack of demand"!!! There was no sign of the owner all week - it was left to the seasonal staff to explain. We didn't believe the explanation - there were 20 at breakfast at 8.00 on our first morning and still more there at about 9.30. There were at least as many on other days - so we were staying in an almost full hotel which claimed there was no demand for dinner..... This was a major problem for many of the guests, as the nearest restaurants are an hour's walk away. We felt it was unfair to challenge the young seasonal staff and drove back several times to the nearest Co-op to buy prepared salads for our evening meals. Our room was not equipped for eating but we were able to use our picnic set and the (tiny!) table on the balcony. The view certainly made that a pleasure but could not compensate for dinner in the beautiful dining room. We received an e-mail from the hotel on our last evening, stating that we needed to pay the local Kurtax (the tourist tax which applies to all holiday accommodation in Switzerland) to the hotel. In the past we have paid our Kurtax at the tourist office and therefore visited the local office on our departure. We discovered that payment of your tourist tax covers FREE BUS TRAVEL down the valley from Kiental throughout your stay. Without a car, this would have cost us about 100chf in travel up and down to the supermarket to buy the food we needed for dinner. We should have been issued with these cards on our arrival at the hotel. The tourist officer issued us with visitor's cards, even though they were of no use to us, as otherwise there would be no official record of our having stayed at the Bären. The Tourist Office and Gemeinde (Local Council) are dealing with the visitor card problem, which apparently would only be issued by the hotel if requested, rather than automatically, as should be the case. We have no idea how many earlier guests have paid Kurtax directly to the hotel without receiving a visitor's card in return but our advice is ASK FOR YOUR VISITOR'S CARD!! It comes as a printed sheet with a code which can be scanned by the bus driver if you are travelling down the valley, and will be valid for your whole stay. If there are no staff in reception on your arrival, ask at breakfast time the ne

Urrrrghhhhh, where to start? Well, to start, I could almost copy word for word the review just before mine because our experiences were very similar. When I booked, for 3 nights, the website had a rather bland sample menu, but a menu nonetheless. No mention of the restaurant not being open. However…. When I arrived in the late afternoon of my first night, it was evident the restaurant was not open. And I, unlike the reviewer before me, did not have a car. And the hotel restaurant is the only one in the valley. Literally. And the bus only runs every 2 hours. And then only up until 6pm ish. Luckily there’s a tiny shop across the road from the hotel (with limited opening hours) where one can buy cheese and bread, but much else (they would make an absolute killing if they stuck in a microwave!). The least the hotel could’ve done was emailed anyone who booked before the restaurant shut and let them know - there’s almost no way I would’ve stayed there had I known I’d be eating crisps and wine for 3 nights - not really my idea of a relaxing break! Being that Switzerland is very wet in September, a hot dinner at the end of the day would’ve made the experience SO much better. A slight plus: cold breakfast was offered: cereal, yogurt, bread and cheese etc. which was perfectly adequate. (The above is actually a polite summary of how angry, hungry and disappointed I was when I found out about the restaurant when I arrived!) Now for the room. It’s a charmingly old-school-ish style hotel, from the picturesque outside to the wood panelled bedrooms…. But the bedrooms were REALLY let down by a) the weird furniture that has been wedged in (massively over the top faux antique chairs where they used to have smaller, more in-keeping sofas) and b) the COMPLETE lack of care given when cleaning. I’m not sure if the carpet had been hoovered at all before I arrived because there were bits of dead fly everywhere but more worryingly, when I was plugging in the phone charger, there was a mystery pill on the floor behind the bedside table. Extremely dangerous and irresponsible given that a child could be crawling around in there. The room also wasn’t cleaned the entire time I was there, even after putting the ‘please make up the room’ sign on the door. In 3 nights this isn’t REALLY a problem but I would’ve appreciated not having to trek back down to reception after a long, cold, wet day to ask for toilet roll! On the topic of ‘reception’: there wasn’t one. Keys were left out in envelopes for guests checking in, and there wasn’t really a sign of anyone else working there the rest of the time. Now for the plus points: my room was upgraded and certainly better than what I’d booked: I had 2 balconies with beautiful views. The shower pressure is also very good which is always a plus. The bed was very comfy and cosy and I had a few nights of great sleep. The WiFi is also good. This is only the 2nd time I’ve stayed here and I fear it will be the last unless the (rumoured

Ich schäme mich als Schweizer, dass ausländische Gäste in der Schweiz so behandelt werden wie in diesem Hotel. Seit dem Besitzerwechsel vor ein paar Jahren wird das Hotel verpachtet. Das Prinzip ist: maximaler Preis bei minimaler Leistung. An der Rezeption wird kein Deutsch gesprochen. Auch ein "Grüzi" liegt nicht drin. Die Sprache mit den Gästen ist Englisch, untereinander Russisch. Das Personal grüsst beim Betreten des Frühstückraumes nicht. Die Fotos auf der Website versprechen viel. Gehalten wird kaum etwas. Das Hotel wird systematisch und lieblos heruntergewirtschaftet. Hier ein paar Beispiele: a) Frühstück gibt es bis 9.30 Uhr. Pünktlich um diese Zeit wird ohne Nachfragen alles abgeräumt. b) Die Platte mit Käse wird mit dem gleichen Lappen geputzt wie die Tische und die Kaffeemaschine. c) Billigster Fabrikkäse und mit billigstem Aufschnitt wird serviert. Der Zopf ist aufgebacken und vom Vortag. c) Im Zimmer ist das Badezimmer siffig, umgeputzt, die Glaswand bei der Dusche ungereinigt und mit Zahnpastaklecksen übersäht. d) die alte Föhnhalterung wurde nie demontiert. d) Die Zusammenstellung der Möbel ist wild. Neobarocke Möble wie sie im heutigen Ostblock produziert werden, in Kombination mit Massivholz-Möblen aus den 80er-Jahren kombiniert. Unter dem Bett fanden wir eine wahnwitzige Konstruktion aus zwei knapp 30 cm hohen Balken, die den Bettrahmen hielten. e) Beim Wasserkocher fiel der Deckel ab. Er konnte am vorgesehen Ort nicht benutzt werden, das es dort keine Steckdose gab. f) Das Fenster im Bad ist stark verfärbt und fällt bei falscher Handhabung dem Gast entgegen. g) Das Hotel ist v.a. morgens besetzt. Ab Nachmittag bis zum nächsten Tag werden die Schlüssel in Couverts auf den Rezeptions-Tisch gelegt. d) Die Hotelregeln sind absurd. So wird eine Gebühr von 25 Franken verlangt, wenn der Check-Out zu spät erfolgt. Pro Minute Verspätung wird 1 Franken verrechnet. Wer eine Minute zu spät das Hotel verlässt, erhält eine Strafgebühr von 26 Franken. Ich bin weit gereist; aber einer solchen Regel bin ich noch nie begegnet. Wie empfehlen sehr, die anderen Gasthäuser im Tal zu besuchen. Für die Übernachtung und fürs Essen. Das nächstgelegene Restaurant talaufwärts können wir sehr empfehlen. Dort haben wir vom Wirt dann auch über das Schicksal des Hotels Bären erfahren. Wir fanden es sehr schade, dass das Hotel Bären so schlecht betrieben wird.

Hôtel à fuir !!! Nous avons trouvé des punaises de lit partout sur le matelas ! La chambre était infestée d’insectes morts, de bêtes et de poussières à ne plus pouvoir respirer correctement. Après 3 plaintes auprès du personnel de l’hôtel qui n’a absolument rien fait pour résoudre notre situation, le patron de l’hôtel qui est un fou, irrespectueux avec ses clients nous a insulté, bousculé et nous a obligé à même payer un supplément alors que nous nous plaignions de l’état catastrophique de notre chambre. Fuyez cette hôtel, c’est le pire hôtel que j’ai pu faire de toute ma vie. Le propriétaire de cet hôtel est une personne horrible qui est prêt à mettre en danger la santé de ses clients pour l’argent.

Bon séjour de 3 nuits dans une chambre avec spa privatif. La vue est très jolie et le spa nous a fait toutes nos soirées ! C'était fort agréable comme habitude de vacances ! ;) Les voisins des terrasses d'à côté sont à peine visibles voire pas du tout si vous ne jouez pas les voyeurs... Mdr. Le personnel est quasi absent mais ce n'était pas gênant. Le restaurant était malheureusement fermé mais nous avons pu commander un plateau de fromage pour 1 dîner improvisé dans la chambre. Kiental est un village bien éloigné de la ville parfait pour de belles ballades. Malheureusement il a plu 2 jours sur 3 donc obligée de rejoindre les villes pour s'occuper. Le petit déjeuner était bon. Je ne mets pas 5 étoiles car il y a quelques détails négatifs : pas de shampoing, savon en distributeur comme dans des établissements publics, salle de bain vieille qui tranche avec la chambre superbement rénovée, sol de la terrasse negligee, rideaux et mobilier de la salle de petit déjeuner vieux... Je pense que la rénovation se fait par étape. :)