The Glacier Hotel — Hotel in Ormont-Dessus

I just came from a trip to Switzerland, where I stayed at Eurotel Victoria for five nights for a research conference.

Pros: The location is extremely picturesque with convenient access to ski lifts. The rooms are fairly large, with plenty of storage space. The hotel has an indoor pool and sauna, both of which are really convenient amenities, especially in the winter months (although the sauna only opens at 4pm). The best feature is the breakfast buffet, which is really outstanding, particularly for a European hotel. There is also a free hotel shuttle between the hotel and the train station. The hotel staff are friendly and helpful, and make a real effort to address the guests' requests.

Cons: In terms of amenities the hotel is quite dated. The rooms lack such basic amenities as a coffee maker/electric kettle, an alarm clock and a minibar. (Interestingly, in my room there was a charge form for a minibar, which I found in one of the closets, but the minibar itself was absent, although there was a small fridge.) Don't expect to find any bar soap in the rooms either. Instead there are squeezable containers filled with liquid soap+conditioner in the shower and next to the sink. The hotel has no vending machines, and the bar serves only beverages, with no food choices, even packaged ones, of any kind. If you arrive late in the evening or simply have a craving for midnight snack, you are out of luck. The hotel restaurant provides no regular room service, although it is possible to fill out a form for a continental breakfast delivery and leave the form on the room's outside door handle in the evening. In my opinion, the hotel elevator is so out of date that it presents a safety hazard. I have never seen an elevator with such a fast departure trigger. If you don't push to open the elevator door immediately after it stops at a given floor, the elevator will depart almost immediately if it has another pending call. I don't envy a person with disabilities or just an elderly person who has to use this elevator. The TV in the rooms has only one English language channel (France 24). They don't even have CNN and BBC.

With a few basic upgrades the hotel would merit its four-star rating, but at the moment the hotel is solidly in the...

The Eurotel Victoria in Les Diablerets is superb in every respect. The staff are outstanding, welcoming, knowledgeable and kind, always going the extra distance to help out. From the outside the hotel is stunning and beautifully situated, being very close to the town, which has an excellent bar in the MTB and a couple of very nice places to eat (we liked the L'Ormonan for casual dining and very good Chinese food) and within walking distance to the ski lifts. The views of the mountains are magnificent. Inside it is typically Swiss with great ambience and some lovely touches. The rooms are large, very well equipped with great beds, masses of storage and everything you could possibly want on a skiing holiday. I stay in a lot of top-end business hotels around the world and the Eurotel was as good as any, better than most and had none of the corporate brand-conscious stuffiness of many. Oh yes - the wi-fi was hassle free and fast, and there was a good mini-bar and safe! Which reminds me that the equipment (ski/boots, etc) storage area was excellent too - warm, comfortable and with boots warmers/driers. We opted for breakfast only and the food was excellent, plentiful, fresh, varied and well-presented by very good staff. We did stay for dinner one evening and had an outstanding 4-course meal that included a great Raclette. I was so impressed with the croutons in the salad, that I mentioned them to the lovely Alexandra and was delighted when, a day or so after I arrived home, she emailed the recipe, having asked the chef. Special thanks and a shout-out to Franck Coriou who is probably the best Front Office Manager I've met in many many years of travel. Great team, great hotel, great food, great village and good prices - what more could you want for a holiday (or business) hotel? All the best wishes to all concerned. John John...

I used your hotel for a Gordon Research Conference, and for this purpose the hotel functioned extremely well. The greatest assets of the hotel are its gorgeous location and the wonderful staff (who are happy to help with every small detail, are very accommodating and who greet you with a smile every time you come to the front desk). Breakfasts were superb. The food served at lunch and dinner was OK, but a bit lack lustre - rather uninspired three course sit-down meals. One has the feeling that this menu is served at every Gordon conference (as these often occur back-to-back at the hotel), with the level of enthusiasm in the kitchen reflecting the monotony of the culinary situation that the chef faces over many weeks. I would recommend having a buffet instead - that way people can compose their own meals. However I fully understand that budgetary restrictions imposed by the conference fees have probably forced this on you and that normally your food is somewhat better. The room where I stayed wasn't luxurious but was very comfortable all the same and had a much appreciated balcony. The room felt like a small apartment with a sofa, an armchair and a coffee table. Nice! The bed was also very comfortable. Overall my stay was very pleasant and apart from the conference I had a chance to go on a number of wonderful long walks with old friends in the surrounding mountains, many straight from the hotel. This is something I appreciated very much. Thanks for a...