Waldhotel Doldenhorn

“Not 4 star service”

Pros: beautiful setting, great food, good spa. CONS: service definitely not 4 star both in restaurant & sometimes at reception. Place has feeling of being under-managed. Staff unhappy. We were here for a week.

“So many good things let down massively by not dealing with flies in the restaurant..and general lack of attention to detail.”

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 acc… more

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.

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