Balmers Hostel

Super fun hostel with lots of people of different ages, super close to the center, with parking nearby (we came by car), very good service, Joel at reception treated us super well and accommodated us in our rooms so we could be together! The rooms are ok, the pillow and mattress were not the best, but honestly we based ourselves in Interlaken to visit different places during the day, so we arrived dead from sleeping.

This place was great. Joel was the main man at the desk for my stay and he is truly a gem. He builds welcoming community, he is funny, and he makes you want to stay. If you go to Balmers you shouldn’t sit there on your phone go make friends everyone is super friendly and if you are having trouble finding people find Joel.

We had a great stay at Balmers. The atmosphere was great & welcoming and the staff were amazing especially Joel who made our stay extra special. He was very funny and made sure that we were happy and welcomed every day! He went above and beyond to ensure I had a great time - also love his mulled wine :)

My second time here and I loved it just as much as the first! Super fun staff and atmosphere. Joel was a gem so make sure you say hi to him if you visit! He also makes a great mulled wine. I’ll definitely be back!!

Hostel in a great location with a lot of character. Puts you in easy access of a lot of activities and staff always have good recommendations. Along with this the environment at the hostel is lively and welcoming, partly due to the staff (shout out to my guy joyel) and the activities offered.

Backpacked around Europe and stayed at Balmers over Christmas on a whim. Best part of the whole trip, hands down. Definitely going back. rooms are nice, staff is hard working, and they have community events like every night. Can't sing this place's praises any higher.

Joel was amazing! He helped with all our questions and made us feel so welcome. Balmers was super accommodating. Lovely Stay!!

Best weekend ever! The staff (shout out Joe, Jake, and Ori!) are so friendly and create such a warm friendly and positive atmosphere! Truly had the best experience we were so sad to leave wish we could stay forever!

I stayed at this hostel for 4 nights and I loved my entire stay. I stayed in a 10 bed mixed shared dorm; the room was spacious and very clean. I loved the huge window in the room, the view was beautiful and it always smelled fresh and crisp. Furthermore, the bathrooms are nice and kept very clean. I loved the showers, I spent 3 months in over 12 hostels in Europe and the showers at Balmer's were my favorite! Very modern and well thought out. Now for the most important part, the vibe here is amazing! Since it's Interlaken, you'll meet a lot of adventurous people who'll be down to go on day trips and excursions, which was amazing for me as a solo traveler. There's not much to do in the area at night so a lot of people from the hostel gather to play board games and chill - these were some of my favorite nights of my entire trip. It's not the most social hostel because the staff doesn't plan events so your fun will depend on the guests staying while you're there, but lucky for me it was a great night every night. There's also a foosball table and a hot tub, need I say more? As for location, it's walking distance to the Interlaken Ost train station, a bus stop (that can take you to and from the Interlaken West train station), and numerous markets/shops. Note: The hostel gives you a free bus pass upon checking in, you can use the bus pass to ride the city busses for free! The only negative is that laundry is very expensive, I paid the equivalent of $25 to wash and dry one small load of laundry. I was shocked. Plan your trip so that you do laundry right before you arrive here, or wait until you leave. Overall, this hostel is a gem. I already have my second stay booked this summer!!!

I had an incredible stay at Balmers! Everything from the facilities to the events to the staff was absolutely incredible. The common areas were kept perfectly clean. Travel can be exhausting, but we literally felt like we were at home when we stayed at Balmers. They even threw a 4th of July party for all of their American visitors, which was a totally unexpected extra step to help us have fun and feel at home. Special thanks to Mateus for being a great guide and friend, and for taking us on the best excursions like the sunset swim at the lake and the hike up Harder Klun. He was very knowledgeable about everything from which hikes to go on and the best places to eat, and even helped us extend our stay during one of the hostel's busiest times of the year. I've stayed at a LOT of different hostels throughout my backpacking trip of Europe, and Balmers was easily one of the best. It definitely lives up to its giant reputation.

As someone who has worked at a hostel, I'm giving this place five stars. My friend and I had never been to Interlaken before and were able to find the hostel running on three hours of sleep and traveling for 8 hours. Needless to say, it's pretty easy to find and is only a 15-20 minute walk from the train station or a 5-10 minute bus ride. I am really bummed that we were only able to stay one night. The front desk staff checked us in quickly and were able to give us great recomendations on what to do and where to eat with limited time in the city. The hostel is clean and pretty large, but maintains a friendly and welcoming feeling. In the evening (from 9pm-10 pm) they have a happy hour. You can purchase 2 for 1 drinks in their underground bar, "Metro"...wild stuff (not really, but there is a disco ball and a dance floor, woot woot). Since disco balls and dance floors are not really my thing, we opted to hang out upstairs/outside. It was a really nice atmosphere to kick it after a day of adventuring. The hostel also offers free wifi and breakfast. Our shower took forever to drain. I would knock off a star, but their customer service totally makes up for it. We initially booked a tent at Tent Village, but there was an issue with their online booking system at the time. They emailed me immediately and upgraded my friend and I to a private room in their main hostel for the same cost. I would highly recommend this hostel and look forward to coming back!

I stayed here in January 2016 when I was traveling with Bus2Alps. I understand this is a "traditional" hostel, but I do think there should be options for rooms with less than 8 people, or even a few single person rooms. At other hostels I have stayed at, there was options for 4 person rooms, as well as single rooms. I am the type of person that generally likes my own space when it comes to sleeping/staying arrangements, so this was a big adjustment. In a room of eight people, alarms are going off at all different times and people are awake at different times, and this made for a few nights of not so restful sleep. The room also had a limited number of outlets which resulted in a race every night to get to the chargers first. To make this situation more annoying, the outlets were all placed very high on the wall and were VERY loose. Something as simple as the door opening swiftly was enough to cause devices to become unplugged (and slam onto the floor thereafter...). Additionally, the walls were very thin, and one morning we were awoken at 7am to the room two doors down blasting Korean music. I wish I was kidding. There was only two bathrooms per floor, which I thought was way too little. The food at breakfast was great though, I really enjoyed it. The hostel was located near everything we had planned to do, such as paragliding, skiing, local bus and train stops, eateries, and the town to stroll around in. My time in Switzerland was incredible and I look forward to coming back one day, but I will not be staying at this hostel again. The only reason I did this time, was because it was the only option through Bus2Alps.

Beds are very comfortable, although there's beds right next to each other; I was really glad there wasn't anyone next to my bed, otherwise it might've been quite an uncomfortable night. Location is okay, they give you a visitor card that gives you free public transit which I'm quite happy about, otherwise it's a 15-minute walk from Interlaken Ost. The layout is very convoluted. The toilet rooms don't have sinks which is odd, and the shower rooms are quite small. Also for the showers, you need to press to get water. There's a lot of common room area and it's all quite comfortable, and the staff is quite friendly and helpful.

Pretty average hostel, although they give you bus passes for the duration of your stay which is nice. If you don't enjoy walking too much, you would definitely use them. The facilities themselves are definitely enough for a hostel, although it is noticeable that the building is a bit older. My friends and I stayed in a 6 person dorm which was stuffy when we arrived. We had to leave the window open not to sweat in our sleep. I realize it's summer time and AC isn't a must everywhere, but a fan or two in the room would have helped a lot. Checking in was a breeze and they're accommodating in that they let you store your bags even after checkout. My friend found some of the showers to be a bit dirty which was unfortunate... not sure if that's typical but was put off by it.

Overall great. Loud at night downstairs due to the club, but it didn't really bother us, couldn't hear it in our room. My only issue was that, in our room at least, the room was either hot and muggy and a combination of everyone's breath, or chilly and loud with the window open. An A/C of some sort would have been nice. ‍

Definitely not the best option for the area. The location is not bad at all if you plan to explore Interlaken itself, but if you're going up on the mountain I would highly recommend staying in Grindelwald or Lauterbrunnen instead. The building itself is VERY old and is built like a maze. You wander past shower stalls, through bathrooms, around staircases to find room doors. There is a great outdoor garden area with hammocks. There's a club in the basement with happy hour from 9-10, though I didn't check it out. The wifi was a major issue for me. It barely worked at all, even when standing smack in the middle of the downstairs main area, and would constantly disconnect me, no matter what time of day. I spoke with other people who were experiencing the same problem. The showers were terrible. The water pressure is ridiculously strong; maybe a rhino would come out with soft and beautiful exfoliated skin, but for the rest of us it's basically a free hair removal service. The hot water heater works for about 5 seconds then it simply cannot keep up with the monumental flow rate and you end up with a glacier-cold shower - definitely not ideal after a day of hiking and enjoying the beautiful outdoors. You do get a free breakfast, which is standard hostel fare - toast, cereal and milk, cheese, and juice/coffee. You also get a free trip on the bus to the train station with your room receipt, which was a nice break from hauling my pack.

awesome hostel--sad we could only stay here one night. the hostel actually consists of three different buildings with the reception in the middle one. We originally booked our stay at the tent city which looks pretty cool but since they were overbooked we got moved to the Herberge for the same cost. the front desk staff are extremely helpful and gave us great recommendations of things to do despite the weather being off and on rain. they also told us about the delish little thai place to eat at a few doors down. they also include a bus card for each person that lets you use the bus unlimited times for free. only complaint was that the shared shower on our floor would not drain properly so you would have to wait for a while for the water to go down for the next person to shower

Super cute but party central. If you are easygoing and young, stay here; if you are willing to spend money to be in a really nice quiet place, do that. This place is a lot of tours of young people. We were on the top floor so it didn't bother me too much. Also I sleep with headphones in so, even though every night people drunk screamed at two am outside, I'd go back to bed. This place has 57 rooms and some fit 10 people in them so keep in mind how many 20 year old wild Australians you are drunk-dealing with on the way to pee. Breakfast was hilarious - just yogurt, cereal and toast BUT you will be doing lots of physical activities all day so that's ok I guess...This place is a 20 minute walk from the train station and the town's shops and restaurants, although next door is a KILLER Thai place and pizza joint. Really loved the room filled with six hammocks, the outdoor seating that's sort of inside, the nice mountain view, the bar downstairs (you can buy cheap beer at the Coop market a block away and drink in front of them and they don't care), the yard with lawn chairs and just the vibe in general is woodsy-Switzerlandy. Very affordable and cute. Price ranges from $35-100 based on having either 2-10 people in room. Most are bunk beds. They have a club downstairs with a bar that gets really crazy with dancing, hookups and the locals and tour guides mixing in. They have multiple rooms with couches, piano, ping pong, pool and books. Some rooms share a shower and toilet with a microwave, stove, sink and baby couch. Some share like four toilets and showers. The hot water works sometimes so that sucked. You can order all your outdoor activities downstairs or walk next door and do it. The guides come and pick you up. I did paragliding and ropes course. Way fun

Commodity is not in first place but essentials and I would have to say a bit to expensive for that. This is a college crowd mainly, where fun comes first and the rules are half met: 1. Kitchen is not as clean and very crowded since there's people cooking an entire raw chicken with no consideration to the waiting line. Just to give one example. 2. A bar on the first floor of an old building where if you need to sleep before midnight ear-plugs won't work at all. 3. People talking as loud as the lungs aloud from every direction going up and down making lots of noise until 2am. The explanation given: well this is a hostel! If you're young with money and the carefree spirit this is the perfect spot, otherwise I do not recommend. Pros: Lots of fun stuff such as game rooms and a cute small garden. Wifi was easy to access and worked well. Breakfast is still included and a buss pass to the station although I did not use either, the station is about a 15 minute walk. The place is like a maze so finding your room can be either fun or a bit frustrating.

Awesome place with even better staff! Great location and accommodations. The staff gave us wonderful advice on what to do and it didn't feel like a tourist trap. I honestly believe this place gives you the most bang for your buck. Great kitchen and lounge areas. Perfect outdoor "biergarten" because let's be honest, nobody should be sitting inside when you're in this beautiful place. Would recommend to any family, friends or wandering travelers. Keep up the good work Balmers, we'll be back!

I stayed at Balmer's two summers ago and have probably raved about it each of the last 22 months that have passed since I spent a magical 5 nights here. Interlaken is a special place, and Balmers has certainly become a staple of backpacking culture in Switzerland and Europe as a whole. Stay there if you have the chance. you will not be disappointed. While backpacking Europe with my cousin, the only plans we made ahead of time were to come to Interlaken for 4 days in the middle of the trip. I recall I thought I booked at Backpackers, so we were disappointed when we realized we in fact had booked at another hostel. I guess I didn't do my research well enough, because I can 100% say our time in Interlaken and at Balmers was the best part of our trip, and is something we still talk about all the time. Interlaken is an amazing place. We bungee jumped, we did some incredible hikes and bike rides....usually when the daytime activities are over, you can't wait for the next morning. But at Balmers, we had so much to look forward to each night. The Metro and the happy hour 2 for 1 specials were amazing. The people we met and hung out with night after night were equally as amazing and crazy, and truly made this experience so special. We are still in touch with many of the people we met in Interlaken, and they all agree about how great Balmers is. I ended up staying in Interlaken an extra day, and my cousin stayed 2 extra days. If we had had more time in Europe overall, we absolutely could have spent weeks, months, or our whole lives in Interlaken. There are people on Yelp who gave Balmers bad reviews. All I have to say to them is you should probably be staying in a hotel if you're going to be so uptight about travelers having fun. You know what you're getting yourself into staying in a hostel with a "club" downstairs. Don't try to give it a bad rap. I have recommended Balmers to many friends who have loved it just as much as me...I would teleport there right now if I could.

Stayed in the tent village and absolutely loved it. The scenery is beautiful and the wifi is wonderful to have. The complimentary breakfast was delicious. Can't wait to come back!

We stayed at Balmer's last weekend and it was great. After several other hostel experiences in Europe traveling as a student abroad, it doesn't get a whole lot better. If you're not a college student or looking for a place that also provides a good time, it probably isn't for you. Our private room was good, wifi was better than most we've experienced in Europe, and the club downstairs was definitely a fun twist. As Interlaken is small, center of the town is 5 minutes away as with most restaurants. Skiing is a 30 minute trade ride. Pretty average price for a hostel and defintely recommended if you're youthful and looking to stay in Interlaken.

We loved this hostel! Such sweet staff, lots of great suggestions, close to everything, and is reasonably priced.

Save your money and go somewhere else. At 10 pm when we were about to sleep the music at the bar downstairs was blasted, and it continued to be very loud throughout the night. Nobody told us our ears will be blasted with loud music all night when we got the room. I would rather stay in the train station next time than here. On top of that people are slamming doors and are really loud in the hostel. If you plan to sleep at night this is not the place. Big mistake :(. I would give 0 stars if it was possible.

We really enjoyed our stay at Balmer's. We stayed the week before Christmas, so it was not crowded and we enjoyed a lot of alone time in the kitchen and wood stove area. Very relaxing and accommodating. We used the kitchen a few times, it had everything you need to prepare a decent meal. We had a great bunk room the first night and "splurged" on a private room for the rest of our stay. We loved our private room, it had a great skylight so we could watch it snow in bed. The bathrooms were a little iffy, it was a little weird having strangers walk through bath to access other rooms. The staff was great, my stepmom called in a request to them and they had wine and Toblerone waiting in our room. It was very much appreciated! The layout of the hostel was charming, with lots of Swiss décor, winding hallways and staircases, and even a piano. Fresh spring water was available from an outdoor spigot. The location was ok, not super close to the train but the bus system made it a little easier. My boyfriend utilized the snowboard rental next door, making it easy for him to go up to the mountain. The breakfasts were just ok, with a choice of muesli with a piece of fruit, or bread, cheese, and fruit, with coffee and tea. Oh, and we definitely enjoyed the happy hour beer, great way to end the day. The disco in the basement was a little loud at night, but nothing crazier than the rest of the hostels we stayed in. Overall, we really enjoyed our experience and would recommend it to others.

Balmer's is a solid hostel. It's got everything you need from a helpful concierge / front desk to free wi-fi so that you can look up stuff on your own. The beds vary in comfort, but the rooms are cleaned each day and you always get fresh linens. There's a grill with decent burgers and a modest but free included breakfast. If you're trying to save money, they've got a large kitchen that you can cook in and store your food in. There's a great 2-for-1 happy hour from 5-7 at the beer garden, and another happy hour from 9-10 in the nightclub downstairs. It's a fun hostel with a lot of great common areas to hang out in, and plenty of social people who are happy to trade stories from the day's adventures. Be warned that the largest demographic at Balmers is the wealth of recently graduated college kids trying to relive their fraternity/sorority life abroad. If you're looking for a quiet hostel to relax in, this probably isn't the place for you.