Roofing error in your favor- collect $200

Wahoo! Yipee! Yeah!

Imagine you select a hotel for two nights in the beautiful resort area of Zermatt, Switzerland that fits within your budget by skipping the niceties. Not horrible, but not great. 16 rooms for which the description mentions such amenities as heating. Continental breakfast described as a choice of drinks and a bread basket with jam. Got the picture? When the train got to Zermatt, after a stunning afternoon spent watching gorgeous mountain villages go by, we stopped at the information office for a map. I also asked for directions to our hotel. The information office staff told me that our hotel had a leaky roof and was closed so all of the guests were being diverted to the Butterfly Hotel. Not an auspicious start to the trip. We have been diverted to hotels in other cities like Venice and we usually had some surprises (like the bathroom is in the hall in Venice). So, he drew the map and told us we were even closer, as the Butterfly is just around the corner.

You may know that Zermatt allows no cars. Cargo and passengers are carried in electric carts. The taxis are electric carts as are the hotel conveyances, not that we have stayed in any hotel offering any conveyance but an elevator. When I gave Mike the news that we were changing hotels at the spot where he was waiting for me outside the information office, he turned around and pointed out a Butterfly Hotel vehicle waiting in the plaza outside the train station. We walked over, passed over our luggage, and enjoyed a FREE ride to our hotel. The Best Western sign outside was the second indication that life was looking up. You may not think much of Best Western, but from our point of view after staying at these family run independent places, a Best Western is a huge step up.

We were welcomed at the front desk with the story of the leaky roof and the comment that we were getting a "huge upgrade". No kidding. The lobby has carpet and silk drapes! There is an elevator up to our room. We have a small deck (well, we are not on the view side, but what can you expect?) The room doesn't have a refrigerator, but it has most of the other amenities you would expect in a nice hotel. A comfortable queen sized bed rather than two twins pushed together. TV with a few English speaking channels (CNN and BBC). A safe! This is absolutely wonderful and we are very appreciative of the fact that when you are tired, sometimes fate delivers a little luxury to make your life easier. We haven't figured out the monetary difference between the hotels, but it is probably safe to say we are saving at least $100 per night with our "huge upgrade". Yahoo.

So, we are two very happy campers who feel like we ought to stay indoors for the next two days just to enjoy our digs!

More about Zermatt in the next writing- including photos.
Deanne