De l'Etrier Hotel Montana

For this price, there are much better places to stay. It's far from downtown, and the parking and garage are very small. Restaurant staff were very bad, and the food was dreadful, even for basic things. They charge for coffee in the room, which is a first for me. Really? The SPA is quite nice, but it feels a bit soulless, and the pool is too cold. Rooms are noisy, and the ones facing the street are very dark. Service overall was below average, neither good nor bad.

The breakfast was a real highlight, with lots of cheese, bread, sausages, bacon, eggs, pastries, cereal and yogurt, plus cappuccino made to order. The staff there were lovely. We also found the sauna and hammam good, and the hotel arranged discounted ski passes for 59 CHF a day instead of the station price of 86 CHF, which was a nice surprise. Service elsewhere was good too. We were treated well, and the staff were helpful. The room came with robes, slippers, plenty of towels, and complimentary soap and lotions. I’d read complaints that the pool wasn’t heated, but it is. It’s a swimming pool rather than a hot pool, so you need to keep moving to stay warm in winter. There’s a wall with a window between the indoor and outdoor sections, and you can swim underneath it. The pool is heated on both sides, though the outdoor part is covered and closed in winter, so some of the heat goes outside. We expected warmer water, and missed having a hot tub or bubble pool. The main issue was the price. We paid 400 CHF a night for a balcony room with a bathtub, a double bed, two armchairs, a desk and coffee machine, and a very small wall-mounted TV. Capsules cost 3 CHF each and minibar beer was 8 CHF a bottle. Those charges aren’t unusual for hotels, but at 400 CHF a night they felt steep. For 250-300 CHF, I’d say it was good value; at 400, it felt like too much.

The location is good, close to the city center, and the bar and restaurant/breakfast staff were nice. But breakfast was a letdown compared with what I’d expect from a real four-star hotel. We booked two rooms for two nights as a couple, and both faced the street. The windows did little to block the cold or noise, so we could hear cars and people outside. The walls were thin enough that I could understand about 80-90% of what the person in the next room was saying. The mattresses sagged like canoes in the middle, whether from age or heavy use, I can’t say. I mainly wanted to use the spa pool, but the water was cold. I’ve never been to a spa in Switzerland where the pool wasn’t at least comfortably warm. The kids there were having a blast, and seemed to be the only ones enjoying it. I wouldn’t stay here if you need a good night’s sleep. For what they offer, the price is too high for a supposedly four-star hotel.

We had a lovely family stay at Hotel L’Etrier. Thanks for the hospitality, and we hope to see you again this Christmas!