Has anyone stayed in any of these resorts in Switzerland with mandatory board?

[sun starved Gayle]

Has anyone stayed in the following resorts in Switzerland with mandatory board ? They all say:
"ALL-INCLUSIVE/MEAL-PLAN PURCHASE IS MANDATORY; IT MAY BE BASED ON A 7-NIGHT STAY AND MAXIMUM OCCUPANCY."

It does not say how much, and that is MAY be based on seven nights and maximum occupancy. I can't find anywhere how much that is.

Privilege R.hotel Sunstar Lenzerheide II
Lenzerheide , SWITZERLAND

Privilege Res.hotel Sunstar Arosa II
Arosa , SWITZERLAND

Privilege Res.hotel Sunstar Davos II
Davos-Platz , SWITZERLAND

Privilege Res.hotel Sunstar Flims II
Flims-Waldhaus , SWITZERLAND

Privilege Res.hotel Sunstar Wengen II
Wengen , SWITZERLAND

 

[jlp879]

To see the meal prices click through the "Continue" link in II. Don't worry, you aren't buying anything until they ask you for your credit card info.

For example:
Privilege Res.hotel Sunstar Arosa II
Arosa SWITZERLAND
REQUIRED RESORT CHARGES
MANDATORY ALL-INCLUSIVE/MEAL PLAN FEES. Fees are payable to the resort and subject to change without notice. Meal Plan-Half Board. The mandatory fee is CHF 77.00 per adult per day; children under 12 get a 50% discount. The fee consists of: Breakfast and 5 course Dinner (excluding drinks). Also included are Hotel Service and mini bar. No reduction if staying less than 7 nights. Minimum occupancy of 2 persons per unit. Mandatory: Tourist tax winter: 5.40 CHF per person per day. Tourist tax summer: 7.80 CHF per person per day. Mandatory ski pass during winter season: 245 CHF per person per week. The ski pass is valid for the entire Arosa- Lenzerheide area. These charges are subject to change without notice. ‚

IMPORTANT ADVISEMENTS
Interval members will be accommodated in Comfort Rooms.

AMENITIES
From 22 October to 3 December 2016, the restaurant is only open for breakfast.

 

[sun starved Gayle]

Thanks !

 

[Laurie]

Just back from a fabulous month in Switzerland, inc 2 weeks timesharing at resorts other than these - our second trip there and one of my favorite places on the planet so far.

Ordinarily I steer clear of AI resorts, BUT restaurant meals in Switzerland are quite expensive, so those costs aren't unreasonable - we spent that much pp on days we ate out. If you are OK with a studio, and an exchange can get you there, I'd consider it. Especially the one in Wengen, because that region - which we just visited for the second time, via private rental - is the creme de la creme IMO (at least in summer).

 

[sun starved Gayle]

Thanks Laurie. These are off the table now as I have booked a river cruise in Bordeaux. We will be driving from Bordeaux to Bern, taking about 3 or 4 nights to get there, then spending 4 nights in a B&B outside of Bern recommended by my daughter's future father-in-law. My Swiss future son-in-law also recommended the Wengen area.

Any recommendations of an area(s) to spend a night or two in Switzerland on our way to Bern ? We have no route planned as of yet. This would be in early October.

 

[Laurie]

We will be driving from Bordeaux to Bern, taking about 3 or 4 nights to get there, then spending 4 nights in a B&B outside of Bern recommended by my daughter's future father-in-law. My Swiss future son-in-law also recommended the Wengen area.

Any recommendations of an area(s) to spend a night or two in Switzerland on our way to Bern ? We have no route planned as of yet. This would be in early October.

Overnights between the 2 points of Bordeaux and Bern, ideas:
Sarlat, France &/or les Eyzies - loved, worth 1-2 nights, a gorgeous and rich area of France - Lascaux cave etc
Annecy, France - haven't been, on my list and it's almost on your way
along Lake Geneva somewhere - hills behind have vineyards which should be beautiful in Oct
Gruyeres, Switzerland - loved the little medieval town

But Switzerland is a small country! You can get to the Wengen area from Bern easily (park in Lauterbrunnen). So consider overshooting Bern for a night, or take a day trip from your B&B in Bern. Maybe at least take the cable car from Wengen up to Mannlichen. If you like light hiking and trails are open and you have 1.5 hours, (no idea whether snowy in Oct), walk the easy panorama trail back to Kleine Sheidegg, then train back. I bet it's spectacular in October. https://www.maennlichen.ch/en/panorama-trail.html
And/or... train up to Jungfraujoch, classic trip, expensive but unique and worth it IMO.

 

[sun starved Gayle]

Thanks again Laurie.

 

[klpca]

Overnights between the 2 points of Bordeaux and Bern, ideas:
Sarlat, France &/or les Eyzies - loved, worth 1-2 nights, a gorgeous and rich area of France - Lascaux cave etc
Annecy, France - haven't been, on my list and it's almost on your way
along Lake Geneva somewhere - hills behind have vineyards which should be beautiful in Oct
Gruyeres, Switzerland - loved the little medieval town

But Switzerland is a small country! You can get to the Wengen area from Bern easily (park in Lauterbrunnen). So consider overshooting Bern for a night, or take a day trip from your B&B in Bern. Maybe at least take the cable car from Wengen up to Mannlichen. If you like light hiking and trails are open and you have 1.5 hours, (no idea whether snowy in Oct), walk the easy panorama trail back to Kleine Sheidegg, then train back. I bet it's spectacular in October. https://www.maennlichen.ch/en/panorama-trail.html
And/or... train up to Jungfraujoch, classic trip, expensive but unique and worth it IMO.

Agree - highly recommend! We spent a week in Lauterbrunnen - maybe my favorite trip ever. We did the train up to Jungfrauhoch - it was not on our itinerary because of the cost - but on the day when we went up to Mannlichen and did the hike to Kleine Scheidegg, the clouds suddenly cleared to a beautiful blue sky, so how could we resist? It was a memorable day.

Btw, I couldn't believe how expensive Switzerland was. I am pretty thrifty, but I gave up in Switzerland. I had a $16 hamburger (nothing else with it) there, and we paid $5 for a jar of (awful) spaghetti sauce. I know that you aren't going that route any more, but fwiw, I have looked at the half board on some the Swiss exchanges available on II and I don't feel that they are out of line. You will wind up paying close to that amount if you go out, and depending on the town, you may not have a lot of choices anyway.

 

[Laurie]

Agree - highly recommend! We spent a week in Lauterbrunnen - maybe my favorite trip ever.

Btw, I couldn't believe how expensive Switzerland was. I am pretty thrifty, but I gave up in Switzerland. I had a $16 hamburger (nothing else with it) there, and we paid $5 for a jar of (awful) spaghetti sauce.

We have been 2x, and those (plus Yellowstone) are my favorite trips ever. Glad your weather cleared up for Jungfraujoch just in the nick of time! It can be tricky, and we missed that our first trip due to uncooperative weather.

That's funny about your meals! Ive also always been frugal about meals - partly to stretch travel dollars for more trips, and partly because half the time I don't even like what I end up with at a new restaurant. We had kitchens in all our accommodations, and did our best for the first 2 weeks. The one meal that worked was some really good hamburger meat (those grass-fed cows), but after we suffered through the worst spaghetti, and 2 of the worst jars of spaghetti sauce ever, we gave up, and went to restaurant meals for the next 2 weeks!

 

[klpca]

We have been 2x, and those (plus Yellowstone) are my favorite trips ever. Glad your weather cleared up for Jungfraujoch just in the nick of time! It can be tricky, and we missed that our first trip due to uncooperative weather.

That's funny about your meals! Ive also always been frugal about meals - partly to stretch travel dollars for more trips, and partly because half the time I don't even like what I end up with at a new restaurant. We had kitchens in all our accommodations, and did our best for the first 2 weeks. The one meal that worked was some really good hamburger meat (those grass-fed cows), but after we suffered through the worst spaghetti, and 2 of the worst jars of spaghetti sauce ever, we gave up, and went to restaurant meals for the next 2 weeks!

So it wasn't just us? I feel the same way as you - we don't spend the big bucks on meals. I'd much rather spend that money on a great experience. One of my favorite meals on that trip was at some kind of a cafeteria in Interlaken (maybe the Coop?). I chose the goulash served over noodles. It was delicious. Go figure.