Sternen — Restaurant in Muri bei Bern

Had a 2 night, weekend, stay in a "Roof" room. The hotel was spotlessly clean throughout, the bedroom was nicely decorated and had an excellent shower, the choice at breakfast was good and the location was excellent with a tram stop directly at the hotel and only a 15 minute ride into the centre of Bern. So why the 2 star rating? This was due to the behaviour/attitude of the reception staff, plus inconsistencies between services advertised and actually provided.

It didn't start well with the lead receptionist giving us an extremely icy welcome on arrival. It was 13:20, she gave us a form to complete and then told us that the room could not be occupied until 14:00. I fully understand that hotels need time to turn rooms around and, if they have had a very busy previous day, it can mean that rooms are not always available on arrival. However, this was clearly not the case here. The room was available, but the rules say check-in is from 14:00 and she was not going to allow us into the room until that time! She looked down her nose at us and it was if she was sneering the whole time. It really made us feel extremely uncomfortable and unwelcome. It was not possible to avoid her as it is necessary to walk past reception to go anywhere in the hotel. It wasn't just us, I observed this behaviour with other hotel guests.

The younger reception staff were not much better. The "A-Z" information in the room says that a bathrobe can be requested from reception. It was a cold and rainy day, there was no heating on in the room and we thought it would be nice to have a dressing gown to put on. But the receptionist looked at us gone out when we made the request. "No we don't have those, I've never heard of this"! It's supposed to be a 4-star hotel. Bathrobes are pretty standard in 4-star hotels and as the information in the room says they are available, then a guest would expect them to be available. Instead we were made to feel extremely awkward for even daring to ask.

I also agree with other previous reviews. Our room overlooked the main street. It was fine for us as it was cold and the windows were shut at night. But if we did open the windows the traffic noise was very loud, so I wouldn't want to stay here in summer.

In summary, nice hotel building, shame about the attitude of a...

Sternen Muri seemed to be the best hotel in the area, so we booked it. ||I arrived after my husband, my child and myself were already registered. Still, when we arrived - after a tiring long trip - a rude receptionist just told me I cannot go to the room because my husband has the key/card. So I just called my husband, who was away for business, to tell him the receptionist is refusing to give me a card/key... After this stupid call and a few words, it was somehow possible to have a card/key... It was a 'relaxing weekend' that did not start well. Later on,she refused to give another card/key to my husband... It was always the same person. Some other receptionists were friendly/helpful.||Restaurant staff seemed overwhelmed, but the service was fairly friendly and some were very helpful though.||||Tap water is being served instead of proper mineral water, and charged as mineral water, which is a rip-off. When I asked what kind of mineral water is served, I could not get any answer. Food was ok though.||||The 'view' from the bedroom is totally blocked with scaffolding - this wasn't communicated at any point. With the lack of AC (replaced by a small fan), it felt really hot, stuffy and claustrophobic. There is a ceiling beam in the middle of the room, which looks nice: the only issue is that the beam is quite low and one shouldn't be taller than 1.6m to be able to walk under without having to bend...this is just ridiculous, and dangerous. Some of the lightbulbs in the ceiling needed to be replaced, very basic toiletries, etc.||||This is not a hotel with 4 stars standards and I regret to have...

Muri is a delightful town, about 20 minutes from Bern by the No 6 Tram (which runs every 15 minutes). The tram drops you only minutes walking distance directly to the hotel. It is more of a business hotel than a holiday hotel, however it has what we call a “beer garden” attached to it and the locals gather there for breakfast, lunch and dinner which creates a nice welcoming and homely atmosphere to the place. The coffee was good here! ||||Staff were, at all times, professional, courteous and friendly. We appreciated the “free” tram pass provided during our 3 night stay making it an easy commute in and out of Bern.||||We stayed in Room 304 which was spacious and had a large balcony attached to it. The bathroom included a bath, a bonus if you like a soak after a long day of walking and cycling. The sleep quality was good because it was so quiet. There was a good selection for the buffet breakfast. ||||A large underground Co-op (supermarket) was located one block away where we bought all our drink supplies and snacks for day trips (including Swiss chocolate) at very reasonable prices.||||We would highly recommend our family, friends and work colleagues visiting Bern to consider travelling just a little bit further to stay at the Hotel...