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Balmer's Herberge

Interlaken

4 sur 10
Adresse
Hauptstrasse 23, Interlaken Berne, Switzerland   Plan
Prix
Dorm beds from US$28.50. Private rooms from US$31.50/person. Les prix peuvent varier selon la saison - Connaître les prix selon les dates
Vous y rendre / Nos coordonnées
Détails
Balmer's Herberge Faire une réservation en ligne...
Date d’arrivée:   Nombre de nuits:  Nombre d’hôtes: 
Description fournie par le propriétaire

Vous trouverez sur place

  • Eau chaude gratuite 24h/24
  • Une table de billard
  • Machine à laver
  • Un salon / Espace commun
  • Echange de devises
  • Information de voyages disponibles
  • Une cuisine
  • Un bar
  • Nourriture sur place
  • Une salle de jeux
  • Une discothèque
  • Petit déjeuner
  • Téléphone (public ou dans la chambre)
  • Des casiers
  • Location de vélo
  • Une piscine
 
Avis de Hostelz.com
Balmer's is one of the most well-known fun/party hostels in the world, and it lives up to that reputation. It holds about 350 people, in two main areas -- a cabin area and a tent area. There didn't seem to be quite enough bathrooms and showers for everyone, yet somehow there was never a wait. Rooms range in size from two to thirty-six beds in a room, so be prepared to be in a crowded space. There are, however, many common areas so people are mostly in their rooms only for sleeping.

Outside the rooms, there is quite a large area with picnic tables and lounge chairs. There is also a giant chess board, a ping pong table, and a pool table available. There is a resteraunt with a limited menu, or if you feel like cooking there is a functional kitchen available for rent (1 euro for 20 minutes), and a dining room attached, where they show a movie nightly. Nearby, another room has laundry and internet facilites. And of course, downstairs is a bar that can get pretty rockin'.

The highlight of Balmer's is the activities that are available. They offer skydiving, paragliding, white water rafting, canyoning, hikes, and more. Prices are not the cheapest (Switzerland as a whole is expensive), but worth it for a great adventure.

The staff are very helpful, and they even offer shuttles to and from the train station for free. Breakfast is free in the morning, consisting only of a couple pieces of bread and some jam, and some coffee and tea. They do, however, have more extensive breakfasts available for purchase.

If you're looking to have a good time at a social hostel, this is definitely a good choice.

— Avis exclusif de Hostelz.com
September 2004


Commentaires

3.6 Average from 37 Ratings

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Comment by Liz, USA
December 2008
5 Fun and friendly!
I loved this place so much I extended my stay! Easy to meet people, fun bar, and free use of a kitchen (essential for any backpacker in pricey Switzerland). The companies used for the activities were really great and professional. The rooms are old, but clean, and you really don't end up staying in them much since there are always so many more exciting things to do. Definitely had a great time and would stay here again!
Comment by backpack the world, USA
November 2008
5 So much fun, and a great value!
If you love having a good time, come here! My favorite hostel in Europe. I had an amazing stay at Balmer's and would tell anyone who has a social life and loves the outdoors to come here. The staff is really helpful and friendly, always full of suggestions for you stay. And the extreme sport heaven is unreal! The alps are right there! The bar is a fun time too. I personally thought the local adventure sport guys were really fun, had no problems with them at all! The dorms are fine, linens provided. The bathrooms vary from building to building (there are two or three different areas I think). My side had no problems and was very clean. Definitely the place to stay in Interlaken!
Comment by Emma, Australia
September 2008
1 Crap
You are kicked out of your bed at 10:30 a.m. and not allowed back in until 4 p.m. they say for cleaning but i didnt see any cleaning taking place. Our beds at bed bugs so we were forced to share the tiniest single bed you have ever seen. The bar is ok. the guys who run the adventure sports are pricks and run wild in there every night. We were harassed, followed had bottles thrown as us, and security stood by and happily watched it happen as long as we kept our voices down. It was just gross the way we were treated and we met some guys who were also harassed by the same guys.
Comment by Brandon, USA
April 2008
5 The Best.
Of all the hostels I've stayed at through the years, this one is my favorite -- hands down. Balmer's has become my benchmark for any new hostel I visit. Balmer's has it all. I would live there if I could.
Comment by Nicole, Canada
December 2007
5 One of my Favorite Hostels
When we were there in July, the entire hostel was booked so we ended up staying in the Tent Village outside of town. The canyoning and other tours they book are amazing, they picked us up, dropped us off, and were super helpful! The staff totally hooked us up with a bed that night and were friendly, and even came and hung out with us at the bar that night. And check out the little bar, it's wicked fun! Had a great atmosphere there, met lots of people from all over the world. The tents were unheated and had no light, but they were tents!
Comment by Mia Checkley, American living in Europe
November 2007
1 Worst of fifteen hostels I have ever stayed in...
We stayed down the road at another hostel seven times and one time we made our reservations too late. So, we stayed here. I don't know where to begin, it sucked so bad. Paper thin walls. Paper thin mattresses -- worst beds ever. Scratchiest sheets ever. Breakfast sucked. Powdered coffee and one slice of bread? Prisons feed their prisoners better. Suckiest hostel that ever did suck.
Comment by Anonymous, Australian
August 2007
3 Very fun but in need of renovation
Stayed here August 2007. It is definitely a very fun hostel and the people you meet are fantastic, so friendly, and welcoming, which is great. The private room beds are quite comfortable as they have thicker mattresses than the dorm beds. The rooms don't have curtains which I found strange. The staff are fantastic and one of them really went out of his way to help us which was great. The place is really clean. The downside is that it is so old and dilapidated that you can hear absolutely everything anyone says in the entire place (not so great for sleeping). The bathrooms especially desperately need a renovation. They are clean but so old that the toilets are stained brown and have a permanently vile smell. Not so charming. If you can get past the lack of curtains and dodgy bathrooms (which I did for the fun factor) then you should definitely stay there if you are after a party and want to meet english speaking people.
Comment by Lauren, Canada
June 2007
4 Expensive, but nice
We stayed at Balmer's for two nights, and it was a pretty cool hostel. I didn't find the beds that bad, I was just glad to have clean sheets! It's definitely comfier than a night train, anyways! Breakfast was decent, I used one of the rolls and made a cheese sandwich for my lunch and that worked out well. The kitchen was pretty small and not very well equipped, I also saw a mouse running around near the kitchen (a little sketchy!). The lockout is definitely inconvenient, especially if you just need to grab a few things from your bag during the day. Just about everything offered in the hostel is more expensive than anywhere else in Interlaken, and the luggage storage is just a rack outside, where anyone could come and rifle through your belongings. Other than that, though, it had a nice environment, and I had a nice stay!
Comment by James T., U.S.A.
April 2007
3 Stayed at this hostel April 9th to 11th 2007, very nice place, but like all of Interlaken a bit to expensive for the budget traveler. Internet was 5 Swiss Franc for thirty minutes, but if you go right next door there is a cafe that is 6 Swiss Franc for an hour, or just 1 Franc per ten minutes. Balmers has a good bar right on location, I never went anywhere else in town so I can't compare it to Interlaken's nightlife in general, but if you need a drink and to watch some Soccer it gets the job done. My two biggest issues with Balmers was number one their beds. Just a very uncomfortable foam pad on top of a piece of plywood. If you do enough hiking during the day, or have enough drinks at night you can just pass out on it, but if your looking for comfort this bed won't give it to you. The only other thing was their breakfast, they give you a coupon for breakfast, and you either get two pieces of bread and a roll, or a bowl of cereal and a piece of fruit. Interlaken is a backpackers hot spot, and they should allow you to stock up a little on some bread for the day. All things considered, Balmers is a nice hostel with a helpful staff, and everything you would ever need (movies, laundry, internet, restaurant, and bar).
Comment by Hannah, proud Brit
October 2006
3 Not bad but not fantastic either. I stayed here because I heard it had a good atmosphere. Being a lone traveler looking to meet people, I thought this would be ideal. Unfortunately it has one major flaw -- at least 90% of the guests were American. Not that I have anything against them but I found these particular ones quite cliquey and they didn't seem interested in meeting anyone of any other nationality. The atmosphere was social enough thanks to the bar and DVDs, and I eventually met some nice people. The accommodation itself is average -- thin beds but decent showers, and the usual bread-roll breakfast. But I also got the feeling that travelers are being ripped off here. Everything's expensive, you have to pay for stoves that don't heat very well, the kitchens themselves are poorly equipped (ever tried boiling pasta in a frying pan?) and the staff push you into doing the more expensive activities (I was advised against rafting, having been told that the rapids weren't rapid enough, but found out later that other guests had been rafting!). All in all, an ok place to sleep and shower, but unless you are American and only want to hang with other Americans (what a waste of an intercultural opportunity), this place isn't worth raving about.
Comment by Dave
August 2006
4 It is fun for about three days. There is this one room that holds like thirty-five people on three levels of bunk beds. Some of the trips they offer are really fun but others are a rip off. The only thing that sucks is the lock out for a good portion of the day. There was a good balance of guys and girls and the "club" is worth trying.
Comment by kat
August 2006
4 We were in Interlaken on our way through to Amsterdam so we only got to stay at Balmer's for one night. I have a feeling that if we had been there longer and had been able to participate more in the activities that the hostel offered we would have had more fun. As it was the hostel was ok, average beds, showers, etc. The bar was cool, but the drinks were pretty expensive for a place that is supposed to cater to budget travellers. As a place to stay in Interlaken it is deffintely a good option, but i don't really think it lived up to all the hype.
Comment by Julie
November 2005
4 This place is a summer camp for 18-21 year old Americans. Switzerland is really expensive, and the prices here for everything, from laundry to excursions, reflect that. Watch out for canyoning, the sales guy really downplayed the danger, and people were getting hurt daily. Not the way you want to end your summer in Europe.
Comment by Aprilly
September 2005
4 I stayed in this hostel for three nights in September 2005. I'm not really a party person, so I worried about how I would deal with a "frat house" hostel, but it ended up being great. I went to the club the first day and it's alright, but the great thing is that because Swiss law says you have to be quiet after 10 p.m. the club is downstairs and the partying doesn't interfere if you want to sleep. I met some great people there. Everyone is really friendly! The beds are comfortable enough too, but the guys complained that the dorm beds were too close together in the all-male dorms. Breakfast is literally bread and water (and tea or instant coffee). The lockout wasn't bad because I was out all day anyway. This was my first stay in a hostel and I'm really glad I ended up here.
Comment by Anonymous
July 2005
5 This is the best hostel we stayed in during our trip! It had an excellent staff that was very helpful, comfortable beds and bathrooms that were fine. Good breakfast and a great atmosphere, with lots of couches and access to books, movies, a kitchen, happy hour and a cool underground bar. They will also provide you with lots of information on extreme sports. It's great for the American youth traveler. I would stay here again!

4 sur 10


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