High hotel prices in Switzerland in September

This is my first post so please be gentle with me! I'm an Australian and in the early stages of planning a trip to eastern Europe in September 2023. The highlight of the trip will be a train journey into the Swiss Alps and surrounds. My wife and I also plan to travel by train to Belgium and The Netherlands and places in between.

Having an early look at hotels in Switzerland the prices look quite high to me. We like to stay in accommodation that is neither luxury nor budget. Something where the rooms are clean and reasonably spacious. An attached bar and restaurant is usually preferable for unwinding and dinner and breakfast.

We are by no means cheapskates but don't want to pay high prices for accommodation as it will mean less nights to enjoy our trip. Are the prices high because of post Covid catchup or is this normal?

Thank you.

Hi Rambo,

Welcome to the forum and thank you for joining MySwissAlps.

I think the prices reflect the current demand in the hospitality services. Post-COVID, people are eager to travel after being cooped up for so long. September is also considered a peak travelling season in Switzerland so prices do reflect this. You might be able to find good accommodation deals if you travel in October or November. Also, some locations are more pricey than others.

Be sure to check this page out for useful information about finding accommodation in Switzerland: www.myswissalps.com/accommodation

Hope this helps.

Regards,

Anna

Good morning Rambo. I traveled to Switzerland last September and I’m traveling again this September. I did not find the prices( I’m a middle of the road kind of traveler myself)too much higher then last year. We book about 11 months out so I think that helps. Also, with the exception of only one hotel, we mostly booked home to go and Airbnbs. I understand your need for a place for breakfast and dinners to unwind, but that may be adding costs to your lodgings. I personally booked places with a kitchen so we had the option to cook meals ( we made breakfast every day as we aren’t huge breakfast eaters to begin with) and we also chose places with a balcony so we could unwind after a day of sightseeing. Also while in Grindelwald, Zermatt, and the Lucerne areas we did not book directly in a downtown area, but we were always within walking distance. Maybe perhaps you can consider something along those lines.
I can tell you for 13 nights in Switzerland last year we spent about $1700, this year $1850, so there’s not that much of a difference. Hope this helps. I added a picture of our stay in Zermatt.

Thank you Anna and Tripgirl2020 for your informative replies. I'll combine my answer in the same post.

"I think the prices reflect the current demand in the hospitality services. Post-COVID, people are eager to travel after being cooped up for so long. September is also considered a peak travelling season in Switzerland so prices do reflect this. You might be able to find good accommodation deals if you travel in October or November. " I thought they may be the case regarding prices. We would prefer to travel closer to the Northern summer (as we escaping our winter!) and picked September hoping the peak summer period might be slowing yet the weather still warmish. We will have a look at later months.

"We book about 11 months out so I think that helps. " Good advice. We will be booking hotels as far in advance as possible once we book our flights.

"I personally booked places with a kitchen so we had the option to cook meals ( we made breakfast every day" As I anticipate only 2-3 nights in most stopovers I'm not sure we will be self catering. We certainly do that on longer trips. If we decide to stay longer somewhere that is an option.

"Also while in Grindelwald, Zermatt, and the Lucerne areas we did not book directly in a downtown area, but we were always within walking distance. Maybe perhaps you can consider something along those lines." That is certainly advice we will take on board when looking

"I can tell you for 13 nights in Switzerland last year we spent about $1700, this year $1850," that's promising. Is that Australian $$?

Hi RAMBO,

In addition to the other useful tips: you'll usually get value for your money in Switzerland. Even hotels classified as 'budget' mostly offer comfortable and clean rooms. You'll find our preferred budget hotels here: www.myswissalps.com/hotels/budget.

It's indeed worth looking for areas away from town centers. Many 'tourist hubs' have lots of villages nearby with perfect public transport connections but more affordable accommodation. We often point to alternatives in the hotel sections of our town pages, e.g. at https://www.myswissalps.com/interlaken/hotels, https://www.myswissalps.com/zurich/hotels or https://www.myswissalps.com/stmoritz/hotels.

Further tips to save on accommodation and other aspects of your holiday are listed here: www.myswissalps.com/plantrip/doityourself/savemoney.

As for general price increases: there's inflation going on in many European countries due to the Ukraine war. That could be part of the explanation, but things can be very different by the time you actually start booking.

My apologies, that’s USD$$. So it came in around $143 USD per night. Also keep in mind most places will also charge a visitor tax per person per day so keep that in mind. By the way, mid September last year was glorious:)))). Plus a bonus if you time it right you may see the the cows come down the mountain!