Review of Andermatt

5th January 2008 by Peter Boland 

Just had a week in Andermatt and found it overall very enjoyable, a pleasant change from some of the mega resorts. A good example of a working mountain village which has a life beyond skiing. Not however for intermediate piste bashers. Three specific points I will make:

1) Bar Di Alt Apotheke

Since you asked for a review, delighted to provide one - this is an excellent cosy bar slap bang in the middle of town at the corner of the doglegged main street. Nice location for a apres ski beverage and transforms later in the evening - post 9pm - into a venue for live music, last Tuesday for example they had a guy singing great versions of Jack Johnson songs. Good selection of beers as well. Recommended, get a seat if you can at the bar and savour the atmosphere and freebie Swiss cheese - delicious !

2) Gemsstock on mountain restaurant

Discovered a gem called Gada Bar at the base of the Lutersee T bar below mid mountain. Laid back atmosphere, family run and quite undiscovered vis a vis the scrum which descended on the dire concrete monstrosity at the cable car mid station. Ate there on 3 days and always good, easy to get a seat and nice service. Extraordinarily, the place has something of a Hawaiian beach bar theme to it ... something to do with the bamboo in side and long wooden communal tables which are made I believe by the owner. One day they had circa 1980 rock videos on the TV (eg: Men at Work, “Down Under”) following day was classical - bizarre! Delicious rosti and the apfel strudel was approaching Austrian standards - highly recommended.

3) Hospental

Travelled one afternoon the short distance by train from Andermatt to Hospental to check out the skiing there. Very disappointed, not in the skiing per se (two lifts, slow chair and a T bar give access to a decent range of runs to keep most of us happy for a couple of hours) but in the slog to get there - it was a 25 minute uphill climb through the (attractive) village from the train station to reach the chair lift base. My 15 year old daughter was, shall we say, not impressed! To some extent my own fault, since the lift map suggests that there is some distance between the two, but more user friendly access such as a bus (which they have in Andermatt) would be appreciated.

Only final point I would make is that we stayed in the self catering apartments at the Hotel Monopol which were very good - right in the middle of town, a short stroll to the Co-Op and directly opposite the ski bus stop. Nice accommodation, adults upstairs and kids downstairs means everyone gets some peace. Also friendly staff at the nearby “Sport4You” ski shop - they took care of all our gear needs for the week in exemplary fashion.

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