Hotel Restaurant Alpina — Restaurant in Innertkirchen

In an alpine world of paying a premium for everything, this hotel is a welcome respite. Funny thing is, the town is located at the start of a wonderful loop of three mountain passes totalling 80 miles. The rooms are big with lots of room for motorcycle gear. Parking lot across the street is free! The shower and bath is hot and all the fixtures from the delightful fixtures are in working order. Bring ear plugs and be sure to bung some paper in the door jam if your door rattles. Beer is cheaper than diet cola. And.... it's good! Of all the places in town this one had the most locals. Enjoy the manly Swiss round table of men likely to be full when you arrive. Smile and get a little one back. Bicycle riders have a great place to start. Train Station in town along with a wonderful big - town information center for tourists makes this town fabulous. If lucky, catch the fly fishing on the river. Ask if tunnel maintenance is expected to jam up traffic on the passes. Make a wonderful sandwich with leftover home made breads from your breaky basket. One thermos of the wonderful hotel coffee in the car and maybe you can wait it out for that summit view...

In an alpine world of paying a premium for everything, this hotel is a welcome respite. Funny thing is, the town is located at the start of a wonderful loop of three mountain passes totalling 80 miles. The rooms are big with lots of room for motorcycle gear. Parking lot across the street is free! The shower and bath is hot and all the fixtures from the delightful fixtures are in working order. Bring ear plugs and be sure to bung some paper in the door jam if your door rattles. Beer is cheaper than diet cola. And.... it's good! Of all the places in town this one had the most locals. Enjoy the manly Swiss round table of men likely to be full when you arrive. Smile and get a little one back. Bicycle riders have a great place to start. Train Station in town along with a wonderful big - town information center for tourists makes this town fabulous. If lucky, catch the fly fishing on the river. Ask if tunnel maintenance is expected to jam up traffic on the passes. Make a wonderful sandwich with leftover home made breads from your breaky basket. One thermos of the wonderful hotel coffee in the car and maybe you can wait it out for that summit view...

If you're on a low budget, this must be the best value in Switzerland. I booked direct with the owner/chef Jurg, and got the discount rate of CHF55 for half-board offered for those who stay more than one night. I stayed six nights, because this is a great area for hiking; five valleys meet at Innertkirchen. Wood panelling, creaky floors, avocado green fittings in the shared bathroom make it genuinely old-fashioned. The Alpina is a restaurant that has five rooms. Almost all the other guests were bikers who stayed for one night as they psyched themselves up for going over the great alpine passes with their dozens of hairpin bends. Breakfasts were fairly basic, but there was plenty. Dinners were tasty - nothing sophisticated, but good helpings of soup, salad, and well-cooked local meat dishes. The room was clean and the water was hot. ...