Sharing My Thoughts on Booking Accommodation in Interlaken
I’d like to share a few thoughts I had while booking accommodation in Interlaken. I hope this can be helpful for families traveling with young children, like us.
Choosing Switzerland as our second family trip… I never imagined how much this trip would cost. Honestly, I was shocked. I had heard that Switzerland was expensive, but I didn’t realize just how much!
So far, just for accommodation and car rental, we’ve already spent over $2,900 (SGD 4,000). And that’s just the beginning; additional costs are sure to pile up.
For flights, we combined the trip with a flight to Crete, Greece. We booked a month or two in advance, and now that our child is over two years old, we had to pay full adult prices. The flight cost us about $2,200 (SGD 3,000, approx. 3 million KRW).
So, in total, we’ve already spent about $5,100 (SGD 7,000, approx. 7 million KRW)! Adding accommodation, car rental, and food costs in Greece, we’ll easily surpass $7,300 (KRW 10 million). Yikes! (Losing my mind here…)
I even wondered if we made the right decision and considered canceling the trip to Switzerland. But what can we do? The dice have already been cast. So, we decided to make this trip as comfortable and enjoyable as possible, especially for our child.
Things I Considered When Booking Accommodation for Our Swiss Family Trip
1. Route and Deciding on a Long Stay in One Place
One of our big decisions was whether to visit nearby countries like France or Germany or stick to exploring just Switzerland. I was really tempted to visit Colmar or Strasbourg in France. Even though it’s not Christmas season, I have fond memories of a bakery called “Colmar” from when we lived in France during our honeymoon. The town is quaint, and I thought it would be a perfect place to visit with our child. Strasbourg is also famous for hot springs, though we didn’t find any family-friendly hotels there. I imagined strolling around the city, enjoying a croissant or two.
But since we only had 8 days and a 2-year-old in tow, we decided to opt for a more relaxed trip with fewer destinations.
In my 20s, I would never have considered staying in one place for 7 nights! But now that we’re traveling as a family, it made more sense to stay in one location and avoid unnecessary check-ins and check-outs.
We decided to fly into Zurich, then drive to Interlaken, using a rental car to explore the surrounding areas. Before choosing accommodation, we always checked how long it would take to travel between cities like Bern, Zurich, and Lucerne.
If you plan to explore Switzerland without moving around too much or flying in and out of different areas, staying in Interlaken and using it as a base to explore the surrounding areas is your best option.
2. Beds and Kitchen Facilities
In most of the places we’ve stayed before, the size of the bed wasn’t a major factor. However, given Switzerland’s high prices, having access to a kitchen was essential, especially with a child. The ability to prepare our own meals was crucial.
We focused on finding accommodations with kitchens, and even non-Airbnb options often had rooms with kitchens. Many hotels also offer apartment-style rooms with kitchens, which was a nice option.
3. Child-Friendly Amenities
Many Airbnbs clearly mention that they provide child-friendly amenities like high chairs, baby cribs, and toys. This seems to be a plus for families, making it easier to find suitable accommodations. So, it wasn’t hard to find places that offered these items.
4. Washing Machines and Dryers
Surprisingly, many hotels and chalets didn’t have washing machines, and dryers were even rarer. Some places offered coin-operated laundry facilities, while others provided laundry services for an additional fee. Hotels sometimes offer laundry services upon request.
5. Heating Systems
Some Airbnbs required manual operation of the heating system, which was an older style, while others had central heating. It’s important to check the heating system in each accommodation as it varies from place to place.
6. Towels and Other Supplies
Many hotel reviews mentioned that while towels were provided, they were not replaced during the stay. Some Airbnbs provided towels, while others did not. Since carrying towels throughout the trip can be quite inconvenient, it’s always worth checking whether they are included in the booking.
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