Hôtel & Apartments Kirchbühl, The Originals Collection

Simply an amazing experience. Best views from a hotel I’ve ever seen. The rooms are lovely and feel like home. The staff is fantastic and always willing to help. The owners are helpful every day and put on a special torch walk on Christmas Eve. They even had real candles on their Christmas tree and the owner and staff played some music during dinner service. Food is outstanding and lovely choices daily. I can’t recommend this hotel enough. Truly a lifetime memorable experience.

I procrastinated nearly 5 months writing this review. The good news is that the wonderful memories of this exceptional hotel have not faded. I cannot say enough wonderful things about the Hotel Kirchbühl! From the location, to the service, to the accommodations, to the personality of the place: 5 stars all around. I am grateful to a dear Swiss friend of mine for recommending it. The views from our room were nothing short of spectacular. The location, about 15 minutes walk uphill from the downtown, gets you out of the sea of tourists and souvenir shops and into the peace of the green hills. We called the hotel and asked for a ride from the station (the shuttle was mentioned in our booking confirmation, I believe). The van came straight down for us, saving us lugging bags up the hill. For the rest of the 4 days we were there, we enjoyed the refreshing walk to and from the hotel. The afternoon we arrived (in mid September 2025), we hiked straight out the front door and explored the immediate area. We found wildflowers, stunning mountain vistas, picturesque chalets, and two independent dairy farms with self-serve cheese kiosks and proud displays of the bells of championship cows and photos of family members. The service at the hotel was excellent. It is a family-run operation that employs many young people from other countries during the summer high season. We so enjoyed interacting with one young Polish woman who served our dinner that we invited her to stay with us if ever she reached California. The hotel's main restaurant, La Marmite, serves locals as well as the hotel guests and is considered one of the best restaurants in Grindelwald. Five months later, and I still remember the venison tartare -- scrumptious! The food was so satisfying, we ate at La Marmite three of our four nights and in the hotel's other restaurant the fourth night. The salad bar was exceptional. I am still planning to write a separate letter to the owners to ask for their celeriac remoulade recipe. I have been trying to recreate it at home to no avail. The desserts...what can I say? So delicious and irresistible. One thing we learned, a little too late, is that you can ask for a half portion of some of the mains. Evidently, many of the older locals do that. One night, the pace of dinner service was a little too slow even by European standards; they seemed short of staff that night. The couple who own the hotel were both helping out and looked terribly busy. It was still a wonderful dinner. Overall, through four breakfasts and dinners, the service was efficient and outstanding. Service elsewhere in the hotel was also excellent. We were always greeted promptly and were given the help we needed when we visited the front desk (e.g. for maps or advice). We enjoyed the cake buffet one afternoon on the terrace and had good service there as well. The room -- oh, the room!! What a treasure. It must have been the best room in the house. It had a wrap around balcony and windows on two sides. It was very spacious with a large bathroom and separate toilet room. The closet had maybe 20 hangers. It is a pet peeve of mine when a hotel doesn't offer enough hangers! There were also hooks on the wall for coats, robes, and other clothes or belongings. I *adore* hotel rooms with hooks. There were two places to set our rolling suitcases and there were all the usual amenities one would expect. The bed was very comfortable and we enjoyed hearing the distant music of cowbells. The Kirchbühl is a Swiss hotel with Swiss traditions and Swiss owners. It doesn't feel bland and corporate and impersonal like so many chain hotels feel. It feels Swiss and family-run, and is both authentic and charming.

I have been coming here the last couple years to ski. I love this hotel, the accommodations, its location, the owners and staff... all of it! The property is a few minutes' walk into town (grocery store has it all if you are staying in the apartments), but the buses run on time and pickup in front of the hotel and drop off at various locations in town, including the ski lifts (subject to hours of operation). They will also facilitate getting you to and from the train station on check-in/checkout days. Would highly recommend staying here.