Scout loves Hotel Julen, which is part of the portfolio of hotels, bars and restaurants belonging to the original Julen family, an icon in Zermatt. The hotel was built in 1937 by a young farmer, Meinrad Julen, and it was his father and mother who built one of the original Pensions in the area in 1910. All of Meinrad's descendants have gone on to own and operate many of the hotels through out the Zermatt valley. Today, the Hotel Julen is under the direction of Meinrad's son, Paul Mark.
Not surprisingly, there's a sense of family history at Hotel Julen, and you will meet many members of the family who work hard at this hotel. As such, it has a rather traditional atmosphere with wooden furnishings and farmhouse touches all throughout the hotel. The rooms themselves are typical Swiss chalet style, with wooden walls and ceilings, but with a touch of colour that we found charming. All the rooms were renovated recently.
There are 32 rooms in total, so it's a small and friendly hotel. Rooms range in size from the small (tiny!) 13 m2, Single room, through to a 44 m2 Chalet suite. The Double rooms are 26 m2, and these feature the best views of the Matterhorn. Most of the Chalet Double rooms, and the two-bedroom Family suite also have Matterhorn views. The rest of the rooms face chalets and parts of the village, the Gornergrat or have views of other surrounding mountains. All rooms have balconies, but most are shared with other rooms. You can get a private balcony with a bigger room, or make a request.
There's a very comfortable and relaxing lounge area, just off the lobby, where you can sit and have a drink and chat to fellow guests. There are also two restaurants at Hotel Julen, the first being Restaurant Julen which delivers exceptional value for Zermatt. The other restaurant at the hotel is Restaurant Schäferstube which features the family specialty, lamb shanks, and other traditional Swiss dishes such as raclette, meat and cheese fondue. This is a gorgeous restaurant where you can imagine you're in the middle of an old alpine chalet, with a working farm – very traditional, lots of wood, cow bells, sheep heads, very warm, cozy, and great comfort food.
There are some wellness facilities at the Hotel Julen, including a fairly large 17x7 m pool. There's also a sauna, a steam room, and a small gym, and massage area.
