24 Hours at The Cambrian - Adelboden, Switzerland
What we love:
- Perfect location: Situated in the mid of the town and offering a shuttle to nearby cable cars
- Amazing views from the south facing rooms
- Wonderful style and uber-cool vibes throughout the hotel
- Switzerland's second most impressive infinity pool and one of the most photogenic spots in the alps
- Tough being a member of designhotels, this hotel still protects the local feel
Best for:
Sports, Skiing, Views, Family, Spa
Points:
9.5 out of 10
The perfect song:
Greatest Love of All - Whitney Houston
My colleague Niklas decided to fly over to Geneva very spontaneously after the incidents in Berlin. I just returned from the Huus Gstaad and we both agreed on testing the Cambrian in Adelboden, a place we always wanted to see. So the only thing Niklas had to do was modifying the flights and switching from the InterContinental Berlin to the one in Geneva. I was doing my last day at the Ecole Hoteliere de Lausanne pre-holidays and soon after a quick lunch at Le Pointu in Lausanne, we were on the road again. Perfectly in time for a sunset drink, we were approaching the picturesque town of Adelboden with its magnificent scenery. Directly in the heart of this lively town, there is The Cambrian - as far as I remembered the latin name for Wales (the owner is from Wales and that's where the name comes from).
Still quite cautious from my disappointing last experience with a Swiss design hotel, I was not arriving with high expectations. Tough this was a completely different place, but nothing more said. We entered the lobby, were welcomed with a smile (finally) and I was happy again. They called the kind manager Ms Yvonne, who was most accommodating and showing us around immediately. I never expected a tour to the room and someone to park our car, however this four star hotel is more than just your perfect next Swiss Getaway. The door opened and my colleague and me were impressed of our vast home for the night. We had the pleasure to stay in a Junior Suite South Facing with private balcony, enormous living room and super nice bathroom.
Beside the cool interior of the suite, which is definitely my style of design, the highlight was the amazing bed with its gorgeous topper and blanket. Another great thing were the Geranium toiletries by a British brand (unfortunately only 300ml bottles so very hard to take away), tough they smelled amazing and in general I loved the small but bright bathroom with the mosaic tiles. We were quite surprised to see a price list for the minibar, tough the only thing inside were two water bottles. As we were impressed by the huge welcome amenity, we forgot about the minibar immediately. Finally we also got a handwritten welcome letter which is a wonderful touch!
So what's special about this hotel? Why are we writing about a four star hotel in the middle of the Swiss Alps? In fact The Cambrian Adelboden is one of the most amazing properties in Europe just because of one attraction. No, it's neither the most expensive ski hotel nor does it have a three michelin starred restaurant. It's as simple as that: the outdoor pool! While the location of the stylish stainless steel infinity pool might not be spectacular, the views do everything! Might it be during the afternoon watching the sunset, at noon when the light is most beautiful or just after getting out of bed in the morning watching the sunrise - it is breath-taking at each and every hour of the day. With comfortable 32 degrees celsius, the outdoor pool is the place to be. Although we found this a bit sad, since the indoor pool isn't lass spectacular and the sauna area is top-notch. The only question we have: why does this hotel only have four stars? A question we rarely ask in this way - I would say it's often used in the opposite way.
For dinner we had the choice between the gourmet restaurant and the casual bar. As we were in the mood for some cocktails and casual talks, we went to the bar and were surprised with amazing burgers, hummus and homemade bread! The service was excellent throughout the stay including breakfast. This is served in the restaurant and buffet style. While the breakfast is not vast, everything is available and in best quality, exactly how we love it.
In the end we left the hotel with a happy face! The debuty manager Ms Gross came to say good bye and we have to especially mention the front desk team which was extraordinary, throughout the day as well as during the night (they arranged a wine opener for us even though the opener wasn't thought to be given to guests ;) ). The only challenging thing was to un-park our car, which needed very precise driving skills. Fun aside, the stay was very good and my expectations of a four-star property have been exceeded! The value for money is extremely good and it would definitely be my first choice when looking for a ski hotel in Switzerland. See you soon The Cambrian! - www.thecambrianadelboden.com
We were exclusively invited by the Management of The Cambrian Adelboden. However the above written review expresses our own opinion and has not been influenced in any way. It truly is a top hotel!
