Why you should experience Hotel Metropole in Interlaken, Switzerland.
Hotel Metropole is where the full panorama of the Jungfrau Region unfurls at your feet in a way so cinematic, so luminous, and so perfectly framed that your entire stay feels like living inside the most breathtaking postcard Switzerland has ever produced.
Rising confidently from the Höheweg, the iconic promenade that slices through the heart of Interlaken, Hotel Metropole is the only high-rise hotel in the region, giving it an unmatched vantage point over the valley, the lakes, and the towering alpine trio of the Eiger, Mönch, and Jungfrau. Its distinctive modern façade stands boldly against the surrounding Belle Époque architecture, a landmark instantly recognizable from nearly any point in town. Step inside and the lobby reveals a contemporary world of clean lines, warm surfaces, thoughtful lighting, polished textures, and a relaxed elegance that blends Swiss efficiency with inviting comfort. Rooms take full advantage of the building's vertical design, offering sweeping window views that feel almost theatrical. Expect a blend of modern furnishings, soft lighting, natural tones, plush bedding, wooden accents, and interior layouts designed to orient your gaze toward the mountains. Many rooms include balconies, turning every sunrise and sunset into a private alpine performance. Bathrooms are modern, well-appointed, and functional with bright lighting, polished fixtures, glass-enclosed showers or deep tubs, and amenities selected for comfort and ease. One of the hotel's crown jewels is the Top o'Met restaurant, set on the highest floor with panoramic views stretching from Lake Thun to Lake Brienz and straight up the valley toward the Jungfrau. Dining here is an experience shaped by altitude and beauty. Expect Swiss specialties, refined European flavors, seasonal ingredients, vibrant colors, and plates arranged with a sense of artistry. Breakfast is served in a bright, spacious dining room, offering pastries, breads, eggs, yogurt, smoked fish, cereals, cheeses, fruit, charcuterie, jams, juices, and rich coffee, all illuminated by the morning sun pouring through wide windows. The hotel's lounge and bar follow the same contemporary alpine aesthetic: smooth surfaces, warm woods, soft seating, and a relaxed atmosphere ideal for afternoon tea, pre-dinner cocktails, or a quiet nightcap beneath the glow of the mountain skyline. One of Hotel Metropole's greatest strengths is its central location. Step outside and you're on the Höheweg, where paragliders sweep down from the mountains, horse-drawn carriages move along tree-lined paths, and boutiques, cafés, gardens, and restaurants line the promenade. You're also within minutes of both train stations, Interlaken Ost and Interlaken West, offering effortless access to the Jungfrau Region, boat launches for lake cruises, forest walks, alpine trails, and panoramic lookouts. Staff provide warm, polished Swiss hospitality, attentive without hovering, knowledgeable without overwhelming, and fully committed to helping you navigate everything from mountain excursions to lake activities to evening dining plans. Hotel Metropole is panoramic, modern, comfortable, centrally located, architecturally iconic, and infused with a sense of airy openness that only a hotel with true altitude can offer.
What you did not know about Hotel Metropole.
Hotel Metropole stands on land shaped by glacial retreat, Celtic routes, Roman passage, monastic cultivation, pioneering tourism, and one of the boldest architectural experiments in modern Interlaken.
The valley floor that supports the hotel's foundations was carved thousands of years ago by the Aare Glacier as it retreated, leaving behind the perfectly flat alluvial plain that makes Interlaken distinct. This broad terrace allowed for early settlement, monastery farming, and eventually the construction of grand boulevards, including the Höheweg, now the hotel's front yard. Long before the hotel existed, the area was part of Celtic Helvetii territory. The Celtic people saw the mountains as sacred and used the valley floor as a corridor connecting lakeside settlements to high-passage routes. Their paths influenced the region's early infrastructure patterns. When the Romans expanded into northern Switzerland, this corridor became a throughway for troops, merchants, and imperial travel between Aventicum and the Rhine. Evidence of Roman presence, coins, pottery fragments, tools, remains scattered in the region, showing how long this land has carried travelers. In the medieval era, the Interlaken Monastery controlled much of the valley. The monks managed vineyards, orchards, grain fields, and livestock across the plain that now hosts the Höheweg and surrounding hotels. The land where Hotel Metropole stands was once agricultural territory used to support the monastery's economic and spiritual ecosystem. The 18th and early 19th centuries ushered in Interlaken's transformation into a magnet for European travelers. Artists, poets, scientists, and adventurers arrived in the wake of Romanticism, immortalizing the region's lakes and mountains in literature and fine art. Interlaken evolved into a resort town, elegant, international, and architecturally expressive. Then came the modern period, when Interlaken embraced progressive design. Hotel Metropole emerged as a bold architectural statement in the mid-20th century, a break from Belle Époque ornamentation in favor of clean lines and vertical design. The decision to construct the region's only high-rise hotel was revolutionary, allowing visitors to experience Interlaken from an entirely new perspective. The hotel's height was controversial during planning stages, yet it ultimately became an iconic silhouette and a symbol of modernity in a town defined by tradition. From its top floors, guests witnessed the evolution of paragliding tourism, the rise of mountain railways, and the shift from aristocratic travel to global adventure culture. Wildlife remains integral to the area's ecological identity. White-throated dippers skim the riverbanks; ibex and chamois roam high ridges; golden eagles float over the lakes; marmots whistle across alpine fields; and the surrounding forests are home to foxes, lynx, and an incredible array of plant life shaped by glacial history. Through wars, cultural shifts, and tourism revolutions, Hotel Metropole has stood as a living marker of Interlaken's embrace of modernity while still honoring its deep alpine roots. Today it represents a rare chapter of Swiss architectural ambition, an elevated viewpoint over a valley shaped by thousands of years of natural and human history.
How to fold Hotel Metropole into your trip.
Hotel Metropole becomes the bright, panoramic, effortlessly central anchor of your Swiss adventure, a place where mornings start with alpine sunlight spilling across the Jungfrau, days unfold into lake-and-mountain discovery, and evenings return you to rooftop views that feel almost unreal.
Begin your morning with breakfast in the sunlit dining room, fresh pastries, breads, eggs, yogurt, smoked fish, fruit, cereals, cheeses, charcuterie, cakes, and strong Swiss coffee while the mountains glow outside the windows. After breakfast, walk to Interlaken Ost to take panoramic trains into the Jungfrau Region: explore Grindelwald's green valleys, Wengen's car-free elegance, Mürren's cliffside majesty, or the snowy wonderland at Jungfraujoch. In summer, rent a bike and ride between Lakes Thun and Brienz, take a boat cruise to hidden villages, wander wildflower paths, explore gorges, relax in lakeside gardens, or glide down from the mountains on a tandem paragliding flight landing right in Höhematte. In winter, use the hotel as your warm, bright base for skiing, sledding, winter walks, train journeys through snowy villages, and evenings spent enjoying Swiss comfort food and candlelit terraces. After returning in the afternoon, head up to the Top o'Met for coffee, cocktails, or simply the best panoramic view in town. The mountains glow differently depending on the hour, soft gold at sunrise, bright white under midday sun, and deep purple as evening settles across the valley. Dinner could be on-site or at one of the many restaurants along the Höheweg. The hotel's central location makes it easy to wander, dine, explore, or simply stand outside and watch paragliders drifting down from the sky. End your night in a room filled with soft alpine air and a view that reminds you why you came here in the first place. Hotel Metropole becomes not just where you stay, but the elevated, panoramic, sky-touched soul of your entire Interlaken experience.
Where your story begins.
Start your planning journey with Foresyte Travel.
Experience immersive stories crafted for luxury travelers.
