Whitepod Original — Restaurant in Monthey

UPDATE: Reply to manager's answer below: Hi Myriam, I am sorry that you are not aware of the situation, but if you took the time to understand what happened or to read my comment, you will know that at ANY MOMENT I asked to enter the sauna or any indoor facilities, I said I understood that and I even accepted not going into the restaurant (although I was actually allowed in since I have two vaccines). In any case, I only asked to enter the outdoor pool, because I know the law and I was allowed to. POOR CUSTOMER SERVICE.

Definitely not what I call a LUXURY hotel, a lot of details missing and poor customer service. Apparently my COVID certificate was expired (I live in Switzerland and it was the first time I had problems with this). Anyway they said I couldn't go to the restaurant so I said ok but when they said I couldnt go into the swiss pool I couldnt accept it because we paid for it and it's outdoors. There was a lot of miscommunication, the receptionist Michela was a bit aggressive when we tried to solve the problem with the covid pass and enter the bath. First they said I couldnt go in the restaurant because my last vaccination was over 4 months ago, then since my partner's certificate was working they said it's 9 months validity, after that they didn't accept a negative test, then they said I couldnt go into the pool (outdoor! being alone with my partner!), after that apparently I could go into the restaurant but not the pool... since we were very disappointed because what we were expecting the most was the hot bath, we asked them to show us the law and regulations and we finally showed them that the restrictions were for INDOOR pools and they had to let us go in. But they had no idea about the regulations since they told us 5 different things and two of the girls were not helpful at all, they just refused to let us go in without trying to find a solution or compensation. Fortunately we dealt with Sophie who finally helped us but the overall experience was really stressing and frustrating. First of all the hall was definitely not the place to discuss this since there were other clients checking in and it looks so unprofessional, we offered them to go somewhere else to talk about that but they stayed there. Second, it was FOUR of them against us which was a bit intimidating, Michela jumped into the conversation in a very aggressive way just saying "this is the law, I dont make it" and stuff like that. We lost more than one hour there (taking into account the high price of the stay this was precious time) to finally find out that we were right and that since it was an outdoor pool and we were both vaccinated, we could go in. Apparently we were also allowed in the restaurant so finally they let us in (otherwise they charge 25chf extra for room service). Apart from this, there were a lot of thing to mention from the pod. The screen of the iPad was broken. The bed is not comfortable, we pay a lot and we expect a big double bed but we found two small beds joined together and two individual quilts. This was super uncomfortable because you look for being warm under the quilt with your partner and it's impossible with two small quilts so basically it was like if we were sleeping separate otherwise it was too cold. Also the upper beds were not prepared, even if we are only two and we won't use them it doesn't look very good to have just the mattress there (a bit dirty I must say), I would at least put some sheets there to make it look good. Also from the upper part you could see behind a small room full of gadgets piled up (fans, vacuum, chairs...) which doesn't seem very professional from our point of view. Moreover we were expecting a bit more from the minibar (maybe some natural drinks/juices or beer). No shampoo. We specified in the booking that it was a special occasion (our anniversary) and they totally disregard this, making no effort to make it special or compensate us for the misunderstandings and the...

I’ve been to this place several times since about 10 years ago, both at the pods and the cabins. Despite the price, I always found it was a cool place to go to and I always recommended it to friends visiting Switzerland. That being said, the place is really not what it used to be anymore. Last time I went in July 2024, I arrived at 13:30 with my kids and asked if it was possible to get into a pod earlier than the check in time (15:00) in order to get the kids changed. They answered positively, asked us to start walking up to the pods and said that they will be calling us to confirm the pod number. At 15:00, they had not yet called so I called myself instead. The receptionist said that it was her first day and that the manager wasn’t around. They finally called at 15:30 and told us which pod it was. By the time the kids were changed we wanted to enjoy a coffee and something to eat (they offer a tea time between 15:00 and 17:00 every day). We then realized that the tea time is not anymore on the top chalet, next to the pods, but it’s next to the bottom parking instead. We wish they would have told us so when we arrived so that we would have waited there (and not go up and wait next to the pods for 2 hours). Besides that rough start, here are some other findings: the pods are now old, and have been poorly maintained. Door zippers are broken and closing/opening the door is almost impossible. the wooden deck next to the pod is a danger for kids. Mi toddler played there for 5’ before coming back with 4 splinters. the food/drink topic is very badly organized. Not only there is no tea time, but there is nothing at all next to the pods. If you want to have a drink or eat something, you need to come down to the parking restaurant which is 10-15’ away on way. Luckily for us, it didn’t rain. But I can’t imagine what it must be to have to walk up under the rain after dinner with small kids. Why don’t they just put a fridge with drinks and a basket of fruits and bread in the top chalet? You don’t need to staff for this, every hotel does it. People write down what they took and that is later charged to their room. It’s not rocket science. food at the restaurant is good and the waiters are very friendly. breakfast used to be magnificent in the top chalet a couple of years ago. Several kinds of cheese, ham, honey, marmalades. The new breakfast is far away from a luxury resort. Industrial pre-cut slices of cheese, that says it all.

All in all, it used to be a fantastic place when they started, but they then became greedy, rising their prices and ignoring the customer service. I’ll keep the good memories and will make sure never...

We will never stay at whitepod again. First the pros: it is at a beautiful location and spendidly constructed accommodation. They claim to offer much to do at their facility with outdoor pool, sauna and restaurants. Our swiss cabin was very clean upon arrival and compact yet simply equipped with all necessities.

Now the cons. We paid close to 1000chf per night for our stay over Christmas holidays, expecting high quality service matching up to the price tag and the self-proclaimed “eco-luxury” hotel. We have received probably one of the worst client service of any hotels we have stayed at so far.

Hotel staffs do not seem to communicate with each other. Even before arrival, we were contacted by various staffs with different pricing and check-in information. A simple reservation for a dinner at the restaurant took 3+ calls for unexplainable reasons. We have paid for our pet fees in advance with our reservation but somehow was charged again the same fees at check out, and even iniquiring clarification and refund for this couldn’t be done because they lacked the overview of what has been paid or not so far, and refused to give us a refund until manager can get involved. The outdoor pool was reserved for us and when we showed up at our reserved time, the bath was icy cold and no one cared to check before our reservation. This was supposed to be our Christmas day event that we were telling our 2.5 year old son for many days before that he will get to swim in the hot tub in the snowy mountain. When we complained and asked to fix it as soon as possible and/or to offer compensation for our ruined Christmas morning, they were incredibly unaccommodating. Checking other reviews here, I see that ours is not an isolated incident. Do not come here if you expect all facilites to be available to you as advertised.

It is clear to us that the staffs have communication issues and also do not care so much the inconvenience and negative experience guests will have with such an unorganzied service.

Despite the fact that it is a beautiful place, we will never come here again. Definitely not worth the money and you will be stressed every day of your stay for all kinds of things guests shouldn’t be...