The Funny Farm hostel is one of the big fun/party hostels in Interlaken. It's a good choice if you're looking for a fun place to meet lots of people. And an added plus for this hostel is that Balmer's Hostel is just 100m down the road, so if you get bored of the crowd at Funny Farm, you can always walk over to join the party at Balmer's. (You'll hear about Balmer's before you get to Interlaken if you haven't already, it's known as one of the best hostels in Europe for partying and meeting people.)
The Funny Farm hostel is located on the south side of the city, about a 15-20 minute walk from either Interlaken train station. The easiest way to find it is to follow the signs for Balmer's, and then Funny Farm is on the other side of the street just a bit further down the road.
The hostel is actually part of the "Hotel Matanhof", but it seems that the hostel as pretty much taken over the hotel. There are two separate areas where there are rooms, with the slightly more expensive rooms being inside the hotel and the cheaper rooms out back... in a converted barn. Seriously, the beds on the ground floor are even separated by what was once the horse stalls. It's not as bad as it sounds, it's actually a fun place to stay and it makes for a good story, and it's adequately comfortable. But it is a little drafty, so if it's cold outside at night, it will be cold inside too. The toilet and shower facilities are in one WC and they're shared by all of the rooms in the building. The showers may not have hot water, so test the water before you jump in, and keep in mind you might want to wait until your next hostel to shower (besides, this is Interlaken, there's too much to do to waste time taking a shower).
The dorm rooms in the main hotel building are just a bit nicer, but not by a whole lot. Each room does have it's own ensuite toilet/shower facilities.
The common areas include no less than three indoor bars, and one or two outdoor ones depending on the season. The drinks are very expensive (this is Switzerland after all), and it may be worth buying a few beers at the local grocery store during the day. There's also a swimming pool, volleyball net, and plenty of sitting/hang-out areas. This is a great place to meet lots of people and it's easy to stay up way too late chatting with random people even though you know you have to get up early for your hang gliding appointment. By the way, it's worth mentioning that the guests at this place (and Balmer's as well) are almost entirely from English-speaking countries, including a large portion from America/Canada (that may or may not be a good thing depending on your perspective).
Nothing about this place is especially nice or clean, so if you're looking for a really nice hostel, look elsewhere. This is a place to meet people and have fun.
— Informe exclusivo de Hostelz.com
August 2005
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