The Hideaway in Berner Oberland – Hotel Alpenland Lauenen
Going With The Flow
The week before school started, we drove from Zurich to Gstaad for a two night getaway. Well, hold on. My husband was supposed to come, but then suddenly had to work (can you imagine!?), so my trusty friend volunteered herself and her two kids to join us in his place. So we piled into our car as two moms with five children. Prepped with Haribo gummies, chips, Nintendos, and promises of awesome playgrounds, we drove the three hours to Hotel Alpenland in Lauenen. Spoiler alert: We had a wonderful, beautiful, relaxing weekend.
After we walked through the car free town of Gstaad, we drove the 15 minutes to Hotel Alpenland. Located at the end of the road between a ski lift, a nature preserve, and the river sits our hotel. This is the perfect location for families with the ski lift right outside the front door. Plus, we were saved many times by the playground where we could send our kids before and after meals or whenever they needed to let out some energy. We spent most of our time on our balcony, drinking wine, chatting away while enjoying the Berner Oberland mountain views.
Hotel Alpenland
Hotel Alpenland was recently remodeled with warm, simple, updated Swiss chalet style. With 22 rooms and 2 apartments, Hotel Alpenland has a boutique family feel in the otherwise famously glamorous ski town of Gstaad. Located directly opposite a chair lift had me looking up a week away over the winter school holidays. Isn’t the worst part of skiing with your kids the schlepping of the ski stuff all over town?
Breakfast was served in our room or in the restaurant, whichever we decided the night before. We were given a check list with all the food options and whether we wanted to dine in our room or downstairs. The view from the balcony of our room is so great that of course we had to try it once.
Dinner at the restaurant was also great as there is a kid’s menu, coloring, and a kid’s room for them to play inside while waiting for the food. I ordered fish one night and it arrived with such gorgeous flowers on it. Just those extra touches.
Fondue Hut
We had a fondue dinner in Hotel Alpenland’s Fondue hut. The perfectly placed playgrounds on both sides of the hut made it a wonderful night as the kids could go out to play while we had our fondue. The fondue served is the local speciality.
Sauna Time
Hotel Alpenland has a small but exactly what the doctor ordered sauna. We chose the organic option which is slightly less hot as we are Seattle folks who are not accustomed to too much heat. Sidenote: the robes and towels are so soft and thick. I was so happy about that little touch that I remember it even after leaving. Another sidenote: This was written in 2021 in coronavirus times. We had our own private one hour time slot in the sauna all to ourselves.
Saanen
The area that Gstaad and Lauenen are in is called Saanen. I grew up on a goat farm in the USA and among other types of Swiss dairy goats, we had a breed called Saanen. So it feels very special to have visited this beautiful area where I am assuming Saanen goats come from. Every roundabout in this region has Saanen goats decorating it which just makes me want to show my Mom.
But even more fun is Saani land. There is a kids map that has all the local playgrounds on it. If you are traveling here with your family, definitely grab one of these maps and get going with the kiddos. We started out by going to the Saani playground in Saanenmoser.
Gondola to Wispile Hike
We took a bus from Hotel Alpenland to the gondola at Wispile after our breakfast one morning. At the top of the gondola is a petting zoo, playground, hiking, restaurant, paragliding, small pond, and an epic view. (The first picture in this post where we are sitting on a bench all together was taken right when we got off the gondola at the top of Wispile by my friend Lindsey.
Hiking from Hotel Alpenland to Lauenensee
In back of Hotel Alpenland is a nature preserve with gorgeous Lauenensee as the star of the hike. Our last day, we hiked from the hotel to the lake. After the kids swam and had a picnic, we hopped on the bus back to the hotel.
The Sound Of Music
While I did not meet Gstaad resident Julie Andrews on this trip, I have not given up hope. I would like to return to Hotel Alpenland in the winter to stay in the apartment while skiing with my family from the chair lift right on my doorstep.
This post was sponsored by Hotel Alpenland. Opinions are always my own.