If you are visiting Switzerland and looking for a convenient hotel in Bern, then hotel prizeotel Bern-City might be a good place to book for your accommodation regardless if you are travelling for business or leisure to Bern.
The hotel has been renovated and offers comfortable modern rooms, good buffet breakfast (with a pancake making machine) and is conveniently located near public transportation, making it easy to explore the city. The Wi-Fi was pretty good as well with excellent coverage in the room, lobby and restaurant.
The highlight of the hotel was the rooftop terrace offering amazing views towards Bern. We even got a token for a free drink on arrival, which was nice.
Why We Chose prizeotel Bern-City
In terms of accommodation, we would recommend booking your accommodation through an aggregator such as Booking.com or Agoda to get the best rates. We booked this hotel through Booking.com.
During our city breaks, we tend to sleep at the hotel, have breakfast and be out and about all day, so we weren’t after luxury accommodation or one with a lot of amenities. We chose prizeotel Bern-City, due to the following reasons:
- Good location – walking distance to the city centre, supermarket and a bus stop right next to the hotel
- Recently refurbished with a modern twist
- Rooftop terrace with views towards Bern
- OK reviews on TripAdvisor
- Although over our budget, it came across as a good value for money hotel
Overall, we had a good experience. The hotel was clean, the bed was comfortable, the room was spacious (especially in comparison to our hotel room in Paris), breakfast was good and we felt it was a good value for money for a hotel in Bern. We share more about our experience below.
How to Get To prizeotel Bern-City
The hotel is only 10 minutes away by bus from Bern Train Station. Bus No 10 stops you right next to the hotel, making it an easy transfer.
If you are coming from the airport, you can either get a taxi to the hotel or go to the train station by train and then hop on bus No 10.
Did you know that public transport in Bern is free for tourists? Yes, you heard this right. Although the hotel is conveniently located 15-20 minutes on foot to Bern Old Town, given that transport was free, we absolutely took advantage of this and used public transport numerous times during the days.
In the immediate neighbourhood, you will find the beautiful Rosengarten and the heart of the city, the historic centre of Bern which is only a short walk away.
Hotel address: Viktoriastraße 21, 3013 Bern
Discover prizeotel Bern-City
Check-in Experience
The reception desk is right by the main entrance and first impressions were … mixed. The reception desk is spacious, clean, modern and linked to the lobby bar.
We arrived late at night and waited for 10 minutes for the receptionist to attend to us as she was talking to other hotel guests at the bar. Although very much aware that people were waiting at reception for check-in, there was no sense of urgency to complete our check-in process.
We didn’t feel the customer service was great at check-in but the receptionist explained the key things we needed to know, gave us instructions about redeeming free transport in Bern and provided us with tokens for a free drink each at the rooftop bar (we didn’t expect this).
Lobby
The lobby of the hotel is actually quite nice, bright and spacious. You have plenty of seating areas to choose from. The furniture is modern but made out of plastic, so not necessarily the most comfortable one.
What I liked the most was the charging stations with lots of sockets, USBs and wireless charging facilities at the high tables. As we had a lot of equipment to charge, one of the nights we spent a good amount of time at the lobby just to make sure our phones, tablet, gimbal. watches and power banks are all charged up and ready for the next day.
This was necessary as the Swiss sockets were type J and our travel adapter didn’t fit in. Thankfully there were USBs in the room but these weren’t fast enough to charge everything.
Hotel Room
At prizeotel Bern-City, you can find 188 cheerful rooms which offer stylish designs and modern amenities to make your stay a comfortable one. We booked a Design Room (double room) for 2 nights.
The room was spacious (18 m²) and stylish and the king-size bed was comfortable and offered a good night sleep. During the day, the room got a lot of day light as well. I personally liked the colours and the bright yellow really stood out.
Under the bed there was smart storage space for large suitcases, so even if you have large luggage, the room wouldn’t look too cluttered.
On each side of the bed there were bedside tables offering wireless charger or USB charging facilities. A desk and a chair and a flat screen TV were also available. If we needed to do some work, then the desk would have been perfect for it.
The wardrobe area wasn’t too spacious but offered enough shelf space and hangers. There was also a full size mirror which was nice.
The modern rooms are perfect for a city break or a business trip to Bern. Unfortunately there was no mini bar or a safe box.
Bathroom
The bathroom was a decent size, not small but not large either. It was clean and with a walk in shower, large mirror, vanity mirror and towels. Shampoo, body wash and soap were available from a dispenser. No other toiletries were provided.
The shower was with a flexible hand-held shower head and a hair dryer was also available.
Again, yellow was dominating making a nice transition between the room and the bathroom.
Parking
For all car travellers, a video-monitored parking lot is available for only CHF 15 per day/car.
Rooftop Terrace
The rooftop terrace was absolutely the highlight. At check-in, we were given a token for a free drink each which we could redeem at the bar at the rooftop terrace, so we went in the evening there for a drink.
Wow – little did we know that we are in for such a nice surprise and amazing views towards Bern.
So, head up to the 7th floor for a super stylish experience at the showstopping rooftop bar. Make sure you check the opening times as the bar only opens in the afternoon.
There was plenty of space on the terrace including tables with chairs, sofas and even sunbeds. We couldn’t believe the perfect views that we saw from the top of our hotel, we spent at least three hours up there.
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Breakfast at prizeotel Bern-City
The breakfast at the hotel was just as expected and similar to what we saw on the photos. I would describe it as continental breakfast with the addition of a few nice elements – boiled eggs, cold meats and a pancaking making machine.
The bread selection was actually pretty good with a variety of freshly baked bread to choose from. Salamis and Swiss cheese were also available. I also enjoyed the taste of the butter – the right portion was dispensed through a machine.
Cereals, milk, yoghurts and fruit salad was available if you wanted to go for a healthier breakfast.
For me, the highlight was the pancake making machine where you can prepare fresh pancakes on demand. I also loved the big jar of Nutella as I typically prefer my pancakes with Nutella and bananas. If chocolate is not your thing, a selection of delicious jams is also available.
In terms of drinks, the usual tea, coffee, water and juices were available from a machine. The coffee actually was good and unlike some of the other hotels we stood at, the coffee did its job – to wake you up.
The restaurant was spacious and modern-looking with plenty of space to choose from. Loved the natural day light that came through as well.
Similar to the lobby bar, you could find high tables and high chairs available at the restaurant as well.
Check-out Experience
Check out was smooth and easy. All you need to do is just drop your room key in the box at reception and that’s all – off you go! We had to go and catch a train to Luzern, so we had an early breakfast and left the hotel straight after.
Final Thoughts
If you are wondering which hotel to stay in, prizeotel Bern-City might be a good place to book for your business or leisure accommodation in Bern.
All in all, it wasn’t a bad stay and we would stay here again. For travellers like us, the room was a good size, fairly modern and contemporary. The views from the rooftop terrace were spectacular and a real highlight!
Click here to check the prices for prizeotel Bern-City for your stay.
The hotel is conveniently located near good transport links which made it easy to travel around and to explore Bern. As we were on a tight schedule, having a bus stop just a minute away was a great advantage.
Ready to book? Below are some recommendations to get your trip started:
- Flights – we use flight aggregators such as Skyscanner and Google flights to find the best options. You can find more information about finding cheap flights here.
- Accommodation – would recommend booking your accommodation through an aggregator such as Booking.com, Trip.com or Agoda to get the best rates. We also use TripAdvisor to read reviews.
- Transport – consider Rentalcars.com for car renting or if you rely on public transport, you can use Omio for trains, coaches, ferries, airport transfers and even flights.
- Activities – a great option is GetYourGuide, Klook or Viator for tours, excursions, experiences and tickets to many tourist attractions.
- Travel money – we have Starling Bank accounts (UK residents only) with 0% fees on FX and a good Mastercard exchange rate. Revolut is another good option.
- Internet abroad – with Airalo or Nomad you can access a wide range of eSIMs (digital SIM cards) available for different countries and regions.
- Luggage storage – if you need to store your bags whilst exploring the destination, you can use Radical Storage to find your closest luggage storage and enjoy your journey until the very end.
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