Hotel Schützen Lauterbrunnen

We absolutely loved Hotel Schutzen! My husband and I stayed there this past June and it was fabulous. Our room had an outrageous view of the waterfall and location at the end of town is perfect. The service was wonderful from check-​in to check-​out. We really enjoyed both the hotel owner and the staff. Will definitely stay again when we come back to Lauterbrunnen!

We just got back from a stay at Hotel Schutzen and I miss it already. It is not a perfect hotel. Indeed, although I have given it four stars, it is by no means a four star hotel. Those are four Unilocal stars. Having said that, I really enjoyed it and would definitely consider staying there again.
Situated in one of the single most breathtaking locales on this planet, Hotel Schutzen is a basic hotel that is spotlessly clean, reasonably priced (in a country where just about NOTHING is, by American standards) and boasts the most incredible view I have ever seen out of a hotel window. The staff are polite and friendly, and, for the most part, accommodating.
First, the pros: We stayed in room 29. Because of the design of the hotel, this room has no one below it or on either side, so there were no sound issues (there is a room above it, but we did not hear anyone up there — hopefully they didn’t hear us either). There is a spacious balcony with table and chairs which leads me back to the view. I can only speak for our room, and the three other rooms on our side of the building, but given the surrounding area I doubt there is a room in the place with a bad view. As for ours, upon arrival we opened the curtains to see the entire valley stretching out before us. To our right, a thousand foot granite cliff with a waterfall pouring off of it. Straight ahead, the glacier covered Jungfrau peak — one of the highest, and most impressive in Europe (Matt Lauer was shooting up there for the Today show while we were in the area, so you can probably find coverage of it on YouTube). And on our left, part of the village of Lauterbrunnen and the old-​school cog-​wheel train (not loud) that climbs the mountain all day and into the night. The whole scene will make you feel like you stepped into a post card, or a Heidi film.
The hotel is easy to get to from the train station (about a five minute walk up valley), and is perfectly located for hikes in every direction. The restaurant serves traditional swiss food, is very good, pretty well-​priced by Swiss standards (still pricey by American standards, but that is unfortunately hard to avoid if you want to travel in Switzerland), the service is excellent, and, even in the off season, is open until 10PM, which is late in this country (especially for a fine dining establishment).
A few more pros on the room: As mentioned before, the whole place (thankfully, room included) is spotless. The TV was a good size and good picture and had BBC, CNN, and CNBC (no other English speaking channels) but we didn’t care too much about the TV so we regarded it as a plus. There was a safe, but we didn’t use it, as it is hard to imagine needing it at all in such a place.
The cons (read carefully because most of them aren’t that bad): Check in is late and limited (4PM to 8PM) and check out is the earliest I have ever experienced (10 AM). The owner, Andreas, is a very nice guy (with a dry sense of humor that I appreciated) but he was reluctant to give us a late check out. In the end they gave us an extra half hour which we were happy to have. The room is a bit Spartan by American standards but we didn’t really care. I only mention it as a con because some who are used to American hotels might wish for a bit more. No fridge (although it was cold enough outside to just put stuff on the balcony). Not much in the way of bathroom amenities so you will probably be glad to have your own with you. The bed was very comfortable but, as is very common in smaller European hotels, it was two doubles pushed together to form a queen. The good news is that these were a much better fit than most beds like this so it is barely noticeable. What is noticeable is that both sides of the bed have separate covers (again, common in Europe), but it’s hard to get too bent out of shape about it because they were big fluffy down duvets (very warm and comfortable).
So… Is it the fanciest, most well-​appointed place I’ve ever stayed in? No. Would I go back? Absolutely. Chances are, if you’re there to hike, ski, base jump, paraglide, or any other outdoorsy activity, you are not the type of person to get rubbed the wrong way by what’s not perfect about this hotel, and, more than likely, you will love everything about it that is. We certainly did.