The Beatus is expensive, but not massively so by Swiss standards. The other guests, largely Swiss and German, were a courteous but stolid bunch. The decor is less elegant than the online brochure suggests. The public rooms are a bit brown, with not very comfortable chairs and just one rather stiff flower arrangement in the sitting room off Reception to offset this. My bedroom was lighter and very comfortable, with a balcony overlooking Lake Thun. It was very hot, though, making it difficult to sleep at night. The staff brought me a fan as soon as I asked for one, but I will go back when air conditioning reaches Merligen. It would be also useful to have an iron in the room. The answer I got when I raised this was that it would present a fire risk. This is not an issue in other Swiss hotels, which trust their guests to switch it off before burning the place down. The laundry offers ironing, but the regular service takes 48 hours. If you wants shirts back within 24 hours, it costs double. On the plus side, the swimming pool is fine, there is a salt water pool as well, and the hotel includes a local bus pass so that you can explore Interlaken and Thun. The staff are all professionally friendly. Gold stars to the head waiter, who controls the dining terrace with charm and Swiss efficiency. The view is stunning and there is live music at night. Breakfast is very good, lunch (soup and salad) adequate and dinner (four courses, with three or four choices each) fine. I debated upgrading to the a la carte restaurant, but neither the menu nor the atmosphere looked particularly exciting. And there are odd touches. A slice of plain cake for tea is included in the room rate, but the tea itself is charged to your room, as is plain tap water with your meal. Charging for tap water is extraordinarily penny pinching at this price point.
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