“Relaxing in Berner Oberland”

The Bellevue was a great base for three-night stop for ósme cycling in the Berner Oberland. I have been coming to Switzerland for many years and the range of accommodation can sometimes be rather limited. This hotel has a nice concept; with a focus on light and airy spaces, neutral colours and mode… more

The Bellevue was a great base for three-night stop for ósme cycling in the Berner Oberland. I have been coming to Switzerland for many years and the range of accommodation can sometimes be rather limited. This hotel has a nice concept; with a focus on light and airy spaces, neutral colours and modern design. I drove from the UK and parking was pre-arranged in a garage across the street for only CHF 10/day. Breakfast choices are healthy and reasonably priced. But what makes this hotel stand out is the attitude and attention of the management team. I was able to store my bike in the cellar, borrow a power adapter and other requests were easily dealt with. The hotel also has a strong sustainability ethos which is very important to me. Spiez is about tranquility and relaxation and a base to explore the mountains. If that’s your vibe, i can strongly recommend staying at the Bellevue.

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“5 star rating for Hotel La Belle and I mean it”

We travelled from Dubai to Switzerland on Aug 15 2023 for our summer break. I stayed with my husband and 2 kids for 5 days in this lovely 2 Br apartment of La Belle Vue. The hotel is just 5 mins from the railway station. The room interiors were cozy and the view from the master bedroom facing the l… more

We travelled from Dubai to Switzerland on Aug 15 2023 for our summer break. I stayed with my husband and 2 kids for 5 days in this lovely 2 Br apartment of La Belle Vue. The hotel is just 5 mins from the railway station. The room interiors were cozy and the view from the master bedroom facing the lake was awesome. The staff of this hotel ensured that the aircondition was switched on before we arrived. On the second day while walking towards Lake Thun, my feet got twisted at the edge of the footpath as a result of which I could not walk and had to be taken to the hospital. On returning back to the hotel, Andrea from LaBelle was very helpful in ensuring I was as comfortable as possible. She made it sure that my leg was dipped in ice water to ensure maximum comfort. She also helped in arranging a meeting between my husband and RS Hilfsmittel at Heimberg to organize for wheel chair. The staff at RS Hilfsmittel was very helpful, proficient and prompt especially the lady whose name I cannot remember. Next morning, Andrea delivered our breakfast to the room due to my inability to walk down. The staff at La Belle was very courteous and empathetic. On the third day my son lost/dropped his mobile phone in the bus at Spiez. He was sad because all the family pictures were in the phone. We were encouraged to contact the lost and found section of the bus company. After few days, the polite and honest M. Krähenbühl from Post Auto went out of his way to ensure the lost phone was delivered to my son at the bus stop. I want to give five star rating to this hotel not just because of its location and apartment view but also for a staff that is very well trained and have an inherently good nature. I was always told that though Switzerland is beautiful, the service cannot be compared to the warm hospitality of hotels in Asian countries. This hotel proved that service levels can be very good in Switzerland too. Thank you. Best Regards, Dipti

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“A proper boutique hotel!”

Spiez is a delightful town on Lake Thun and we really enjoyed our stay at La Belle Vue, not least because of the [essential] option of the view itself. Fantastic. The station sits above the town, and although it's an easy walk (at least on the way down!), because of the height difference you mi… more

Spiez is a delightful town on Lake Thun and we really enjoyed our stay at La Belle Vue, not least because of the [essential] option of the view itself. Fantastic. The station sits above the town, and although it's an easy walk (at least on the way down!), because of the height difference you might want to make it easier still and get the bus, especially if you have suitcases or mobility issues. The #61 to the harbour (schiffstation) runs every hour, at roughly 5 mins to the hour in both directions. This means you can fall out of the hotel guest entrance in the morning to get (say) the 08.57 up to the station, and on your arrival/return the xx.49 bus down to “Des Alpes”. (There are other options to/from “Krone/Kronenplatz”, both very close to the nearby roundabout, namely #1, 62 or 63 going down, or the #65 up at 9 mins past). Incidentally, being able to simply hop on or off any bus (or train, or boat) was the main reason we found the Swiss Pass so helpful - it may not have saved us any money but it was so convenient to have. What about the hotel itself? We had a 'Panorama Comfort Double Room with Balcony' (Room 31). The room is quite small and fitted out in a minimalist fashion, and our bathroom - although perfectly serviceable - looked rather incongruous by comparison (I gather they are to be refitted). It was nice having large opening windows for ventilation as well as a balcony. There are no tea-making facilities in the room but there is a drinks station in an alcove on the landing, which was a clever alternative. There's a lift but it's tiny, which is why our luggage was kindly taken to our room for us ahead of us whilst we were given a welcome drink. The broadband is extremely fast. Rather unusually the breakfast is assembled to order - the idea being to save wastage - but you can have as much as you want and eggs and one or two other cooked options are available at a small supplement. The young owners are very much ‘hands on’ and have assembled a great team, so I wish them every success, but although I've rated this as 5* based on our assessment at the time, I do feel rather let down by subsequent events... We stayed five nights - not least because the hotel currently offers a very generous 35% discount on stays of five nights or more. The booking confirmation confirmed that this discount had been applied, and the net figure was the amount that the hotel took from our card the day before we arrived. Given that ALL accommodation in Switzerland is expensive [to us Brits] I didn’t think any more about it - it was a very good deal - but now that I come to compare one establishment with another in the course of writing my reviews I find that the figures simply don’t add up… At the heart is a lack of transparency as to what the room rate actually was for early August.  I know what we actually paid – an average of £216 (plus £8 tax) per night (the actual rate varing accordingly to the day of the week, with Thurs & Fri being progressively dearer) – but what would we have paid if we were only staying three or four nights? One could be forgiven for thinking that the booking confirmation would make this clear, ie X-Y=Z, but, as you can see from the image, it doesn’t. If you gross our rate up then it works out at £332 per night (and the hotel confirm that figure, viz. CHF 1,843 in total), which even by Swiss standards would be excessive. All the evidence however suggests that that is NOT the case and the standard high season rate for the room in question is c.£270 per night - and indeed the hotel finally confirmed that this is broadly right too - in which case we’ve only been given half the reduction we were promised. A number of [very polite] emails to the hotel querying this anomaly have got me nowhere. They say (in effect) that the computer must be right and, even though we were with them less than three weeks earlier, are unable/unwilling to replicate the calculation. I find this surprising. The refusal to acknowledge any inconsistency in these figures suggests to me that management have no desire to find out whether this was a one-off inputting error (no problem - these things happen) or whether there’s a glitch in their accounting software (which would be far more worrying and needs to be sorted). An unfortunate postscript from my perspective but it doesn’t alter the fact that this is a great place to stay.

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“What a gem!”

We stayed four nights here and loved every minute.  It is a short walk downhill from the train station, located just off the main street of the town, so it's lovely and quiet.  It's close to Migros and Coop as well as restaurants. We were warmly welcomed upon check in, our room was ready early, bu… more

We stayed four nights here and loved every minute.  It is a short walk downhill from the train station, located just off the main street of the town, so it's lovely and quiet.  It's close to Migros and Coop as well as restaurants. We were warmly welcomed upon check in, our room was ready early, but we were encouraged to take our time and enjoy our complimentary local wine. The rooms are well appointed, no air con though, and a coffee maker, kettle and bar fridge are on each floor for your use. The rear of the hotel has spectacular views to Lake Thun and the castle. Breakfast is amazing:  Berry smoothie or apple juice, yoghurt with fresh fruit, granola and mixed berries, lovely fresh breads or croissants with jamon and a different cheese each day, tea, coffee or hot chocolate.  The snacks and lunch menus are quite innovative too.  It is truly a delightful place and the staff is amazing. Very highly recommended.

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