Bees and Friends Hotels in Bern Region

Série Horns – A Charming Alpine Stay for Feathered Guests: Set in front of the Posthotel Rössli chalet in Gstaad, Série Horns is a birdhouse series designed by interior architecture master's student Jaemo Lee. Inspired by the iconic postal horn, the design pays tribute to the hotel’s history as a former post office. Shaped like musical horns and crafted from wood with chalet-style roofs, the birdhouses symbolically link birds to messengers and nests to mailboxes. This poetic reinterpretation blends traditional Swiss aesthetics with functionality, offering a refined retreat for birds who appreciate alpine elegance.

Our insect hotel is nestled beneath a large conifer – a natural haven where many insects and spiders feel particularly at home. With this insect hotel, we offer shelter, nesting sites, and overwintering opportunities for a wide range of species, actively supporting biodiversity and contributing to a healthy ecological balance. It's also a fascinating place for children to observe and explore, helping them develop a playful yet meaningful awareness of the vital role insects play in our ecosystem.

Our château park is home to a variety of charming shelters for local wildlife – including a birdhouse that has been lovingly maintained for many years by a local association. Our beehives not only produce honey for our own use but also make a valuable contribution to biodiversity and environmental preservation. The expansive park, with its blooming flowerbeds and well-tended lawns, is carefully cultivated to give something back to nature. Quiet corners and secluded spots throughout the grounds offer peaceful refuges where small animals can thrive.

In our idyllic seminar garden, just a few steps from the edge of the forest, we’ve created a lovingly designed insect hotel – our “Tiny Wings Resort” is a tranquil retreat for our smallest guests: wild bees and other beneficial insects. Thanks to our location between two nature reserves, many other animal friends also call this place home: frogs croak by the pond, swans and ducks glide across Lake Thun, and a wide variety of water birds regularly stop by. A place for holistic well-being – and a thriving habitat for bees & friends.

Our spacious hotel park, home to magnificent old trees, features four bird nesting boxes. The hotel is also located directly on the shores of Lake Thun, where we have our own small harbour. Every year, we place a wooden raft there, offering a nesting spot for coots. A beehive, insect hotels, and other nature-focused initiatives are also in the planning stages.

The idea of keeping our own bees came from a desire to offer our guests homemade honey. At first, the bees lived between the two buildings of our hotel — but they regularly took off, apparently finding the location too dull. Eventually, we entrusted them to beekeeper Peter Roth, who now looks after them. The four bee colonies still belong to us, and their honey — around 60 kilograms a year — is still served at our hotel.

The beehive in the youth hostel’s garden is a very special kind of accommodation – for guests of a different kind. In the beehive, one can enjoy an unobstructed view of the starry sky at night and a majestic view of the Eiger North Face during the day. The sky is the limit!

Sustainability has been a passionate calling at Giessbach ever since its rescue between 1982 and 1984. In 2019, efforts began to restore the historic vegetable garden from 1897. Today, herbs are harvested from our own garden, vegetables—wherever possible—come from our own fields or from the estate’s historic garden houses, and even the honey is produced by Giessbach’s own bees and is available for purchase. Naturally, all products are organic. Our beekeeper currently cares for 10 bee colonies, yielding around 400 kg of honey from the Giessbach estate each year. The peaceful, native Swiss bee species, the Carnica bee, has found a true home at Giessbach. Birds also find a safe breeding place in the park, with around 15 birdhouses offering shelter. When old trees in the nature park die, it can take decades for their trunks to decompose. During this time, they serve as deadwood habitats—an essential lifeline for thousands of species. Dead trees are among the richest and most vital ecosystems in the forest. Roughly a quarter of all forest-dwelling species depend on them. In Switzerland alone, these include dozens of bird species, hundreds of types of lichens, thousands of fungi and beetle species, and millions of microorganisms. The Giessbach Falls and their surrounding landscape have been designated a cantonal natural monument since 1950 and are protected accordingly. Thanks to the Giessbach Foundation, the Grandhotel Giessbach and its forest are now recognized as a cultural asset of national importance.

Along the route of the Niesen Railway leading to the Berghaus Niesen Kulm (Typically Swiss Lodge), our colleague Markus Rubin has installed a bee hotel shaped like the iconic Niesen funicular. The exclusive Niesen honey is available for purchase at the kiosk next to the Berghaus.

Driven by passion and commitment to global climate protection, we actively invest in internal resource and energy efficiency. One example is the care of up to 150,000 bees on our hotel rooftop. This initiative not only supports the fight against bee decline, but also yields around 85 kg of sustainably produced honey each year – used at breakfast and in our fascia massage treatments in the spa.

Our beehives are nestled within the gardens of The Alpina Gstaad and can be discovered during a beekeeping workshop led by a professional local beekeeper who cares for them each year. Available every summer, this 45-minute experience invites guests into the fascinating world of bees. The beekeeper shares insights into their unique universe, explains the honey-making process, and highlights the vital role of a healthy environment in their survival.

Right on the hostel grounds, we host around six beehives, carefully tended by a local beekeeper. The honey they produce is used in our hostel, for example at breakfast. The Wild Bee Youth Shelter is located on the premises of the Leissigen Youth Hostel. This initiative is part of the Swiss Youth Hostels’ comprehensive sustainability strategy, which integrates ecological, social and economic principles.

We are home to around six bee colonies, located directly on the hotel grounds and cared for by a local beekeeper. The honey they produce is used throughout the hotel, including at our breakfast buffet.