Waldhotel Doldenhorn

Overall this is a hotel with many positive aspects with a proud history but it needs to work harder on some of the basics of the guest experience which are easy to fix but currently really letting it down. Location: - off the main road through the village, on the edge of the forest so direct access to walking routes - very quiet at night - Roughly halfway between the train station (c20mins walk) and Sunnbuel cable car station (around 15mins walk). - Village bus comes past the end of the hotel drive once per hour in each direction- timed to/from train station to connect to hourly train times. -Approx 15mins walk from Allmenalp cable car - Oeschinensee cable car can be accessed from village centre/train station in 15mins further walk or via extra village bus, or can ask to use hotel minibus for drop offs. Room: - very spacious, believe it was a superior one - Sofa and armchair plus proper double bed - a desk and desk chair, coffee machine (unused) - mini fridge, extensive wardrobe space including both shelves and hanging rail and a mini safe - Bathroom had both a bathtub and separate walk in shower. Toilet was separate but sink in main bathroom and toilet cubicle quite small so felt would have been more sensible just to have everything in the bathroom together. - Robes and additional towels provided in a cloth bag to use in the spa, slippers not provided as standard but can be requested at reception if you don't bring your own spa shoes/sliders. - Clean and tidy on arrival, nice to have option of a 10chf voucher for every day room is not cleaned as didn't need this every day and helped reduce my drinks bill. Half board food: - Good for those like me who eat meat/fish but very poor variety for vegetarians - presentation of menu options is a bit confusing at first, especially if arriving after a long day of travel - Daily menu (no choices) at the main hotel but you can change any dish or all the starters/main to your choice from a short a la carte menu (which doesn't change daily). Menu provided at breakfast at which point can also choose to move half board reservation to rustic Reudihuis across the road, which has its own daily set menu or also offers fondue/raclette etc. - Breakfast included breads, cereals, yogurt etc serve yourself - option to order omelettes or various other egg based dishes, which were well presented and good portions, but may have to wait a little while at busy times - my package included choice of a light lunch or can make up a packed lunch at breakfast to take out with you Pool/spa: - Great sized pool, big enough to do lengths/laps and pleasantly warm temperature - Often had it to myself in the afternoons, long opening hours - Sun loungers around the pool limited but separate chill out lounge with plenty of extra space DOWNSIDES There was a major problem with flies in the restaurant/dining room and nothing seemed to be done about it. No sign of any traps, papers/sticky foods to attract them or evidence of spray being used. Equally no evidence of natural scent repellents- plants, candles etc. If youre not going to take any proactive measures like this then on basic hygiene grounds should at least be making sure all food is covered up and protected. The reudihuis did at least cover bread baskets with napkins and use the individual butter containers that can be covered, but main hotel did not even do this. They have an extensive cheese buffet but did not use this after first night as none of the cheese was covered up so knew flies would have landed on all of it. This is really basic stuff easily remedied and expect far better from this standard and cost of hotel. Staff shrugging and saying its a problem is simply not good enough. As others have mentioned pillows are incredibly soft. I stayed solo so could use both pillows but even then had to fold them in half and stack to get anything approaching comfortable/supportive. No firmer options in the wardrobe or clear note of whether alternatives available at reception. Room itself was clean but balcony was neglected- chairs very basic and uncomfortable, seat covers needed cleaning, weeds were growing up through the floor so overall not a pleasant place to sit- shame as the view across to waterfall and Allmenalp was excellent. The shower gel/shampoo in shower was empty on arrival and not topped up for several days. Hotel produces its own water and each day room is cleaned you get ice tea & small still and sparkling bottles added to the fridge. However if you ask for water at dinner this is charged 5.50chf/half litre or 8chf for a litre. My previous experience of Switzerland was that if you only drink water in the evening you get charged for it but it will be provided free if you order wine or additional soft drinks. That is not the case here, you are charged for the water regardless....the same water they give you in your room during the day for free.... Just seems an excessive charge.

First of all the good: beautiful location, but outside of town and not near the lake in Kandersteg, which is the reason most people go there. Transportation from Rail Station: there are no taxis in Kandersteg, and the Waldhotel is not near the train station, so you need to call the hotel in advance to schedule their courtesy ride. We got a Tesla, which was fun. Restaurants: We go there mid-day, and there was no lunch service, but they did offer some bar service. The sandwiches were good. But since the hotel is not near the town, you can't easily go elsewhere to find food, unless you have a car. We arrived on a Thursday, and the only dinner they offered was some type of chefs night meal at 7 pm. We opted out of this option (and there was no other option available). Breakfast Buffet: The breakfast was ok. They did offer eggs from the kitchen (omelette and other options). Room 101: Not awful, but poor. Total price for two rooms was $650.98 and not a great value for the type of rooms. The room was clean, but the colors and furniture were mismatched. The room appeared to be newly remodeled with beautiful wood ceiling and some walls. There was a light burned out in the above lighting. The phone was dead - it did not work at all. The bathroom had been newly remodeled and had a shower and tub. Overall, the bathroom was great. Except that it did not have a bathroom fan (just use the window I guess). The shades for the window were in disrepair. On the toilet room door, the bottom of the door was in disrepair - looked liked during installation it did not fit, so it was damaged so that it would. The view out the back was of the foliage of the mountain. Views from the front facing rooms were better - maybe even spectacular with a waterfall across the valley. The worst part of the room was that it was loud. You could hear the kitchen and restaurant one floor down from the hallway. Even worse, during the remodel, I guess they didn't bother to enhance any sound insulation, so I was woken up early from the room above (they must have had a dog or something from the sounds of something running around). Overall, not really impressed. Now it makes me wonder how Relais and Chateau rate hotels. Clearly, not a benchmark that you can trust. Without too much effort, the Waldhotel could easily make the rooms and experience better. But it's not a hotel that I will stay in, nor recommend.

This was a hugely disappointing experience. On a positive note, the room was nice and the hotel is in a lovely location. However, there are several areas which require improvement and attention. Breakfast was often chaotic, with large groups of visitors - often thirty or forty at any one time - having their breakfast prior to going out for the day. This resulted in severely depleted buffet choices for the other hotel guests. There were dead flowers at breakfast on all of the tables on some days. Paper cups were provided for coffee in the rooms. Asking for china cups appeared to be a real problem, as did asking for a corkscrew. Corkscrews were available to purchase! The two glasses in our room were not washed on most days and soft drinks were often not replaced. Hotel and room information was minimal and only available via an app. Reception staff were often surly and non empathetic. Rather than post issues on an online review, I attempted to make an appointment with one of the managers on three occasions. I was fobbed off each time and was made to feel that I was a nuisance. Hence this review. Overall, the standard of service fell far below what I would expect from a Relais and Chateaux. I have strong links with both Kandersteg and Thun and have holidayed in the area for almost sixty years. I have never felt more embarrassed at being Swiss.