Hotel Albula & Julier

The hotel is beautifully located and is comfortable rather than luxurious. I was there with a Great Rail Journeys group, so each day started with a 500m, steep uphill walk, and anyone less than reasonably fit might find this a challenge. The Albula River flows right round the hotel in a tight bend, and is indeed very loud, though I didn’t notice it at all with the windows closed. The village is quiet and pretty, with an excellent bakery just round the corner from the hotel. The rooms are spacious and very clean. The staff were almost exclusively friendly, polite and helpful. The only problem I had was that I found the texture of the seersucker duvet cover very irritating, and got a full blast “Swiss stare” when I asked for it to be changed, and was told it was all they had. The GRJ holiday manager spoke to them later and they managed to find an alternative for me. Because we were a group, there was no choice in the evening meal, but it was all well cooked and tasty - apart from the pork curry. If I have one word of advice for the otherwise excellent chefs, it is to find out what a curry should be like - and it isn’t watery and under-spiced, nor should it be served with a glacé cherry and a tinned apricot. Utterly bizarre. Overall, I enjoyed my stay, and was lucky to have a room above the river, with a view towards the mountains.

We enjoyed our stay, great location, friendly clean and spectacular views from the bedroom window. The packed lunch was the icing on the cake.

We stayed here whilst on 5 day group tour of Switzerland and all I can say is WOW. It's a lovely hotel and the staff really make it special. The rooms are spacious and comfortable and clean and with a lovely river running past the hotel makes it special. The food is good too. As I said though it's the staff that make it as they are ALL so friendly and helpful. A special mention for Denise who was super amazing.

As many reviewers, we stayed as part of a Rail Discoveries package. In our opinion the hotel, staff and facilities were spot on! Rooms were spacious, with a large bathroom. The shower was powerful, heat consistent and water so soft! Two sachets of body wash/shampoo, and a small bar of soap provided, along with tissues. Not sure if sachets replenished as we took our own toiletries. Bathroom was cleaned everyday and towels replaced as required. Sockets either side of bed but only pin plugs and no USB charge points. For us the plllows were too soft. Also a double room was two single beds pushed together with two single duvets, just a minor issue. No tea making facilities in room but do not worry! Kettle available for £10/€10 or 10 SF deposit. For 50 cents a coffee sachet, sugar and cream pot ( long life) provided as well as cups… it really was a bonus for us as we like that early cuppa in bed! I would advise taking your own tea bags of choice and a long life milk of your liking. The food seems to attract some negative comments, I can only say that among our group of four there were no complaints! Maybe fussier eaters would object but I tried veal for the first time in my life and it was fine. Not as many veg served as we would have at home but again no big problem. It was good that at every meal diners were offered extras of all components of the dish. The drinks were also provided as required and staff regularly asking if more were wanted , The dining experience was very enjoyable. Now… that hill! This is totally judged by one’s own physical capabilities, but it is totally not a problem! A bus is timed to coincide with train times and some used this every day to get up the hill, without issue and I believe without payment too! We walked up and timed it at six minutes ( quite briskly) others maybe took a maximum twenty minutes with a breather. Most somewhere in between. Do not let it put you off this trip! The packed lunch provided we all thought was superb! Certainly saved the expense of eating lunch out every day and sitting on a bench in the sunshine with a picnic lunch, outstanding scenery provided some lovely memories. All in all this hotel was just what was required and a very enjoyable part of our overall holiday experience Phil and Sue

We visited this hotel as part of a Rail Discoveries tour package. It has apparently been in the family for several generations, the staff were very helpful and friendly. Breakfast was continental style and good. As part of our package, we had a packed lunch, which was OK. However the rolls they provided, only ever has one filling. Eg cheese, fish paste, ham etc. They would have been nice with a bit of salad etc. There was also a piece of fruit, chocolate bat and bottle of water. Evening meal was a wide range of salad items form a buffet, followed by a main course and desert. Unfortunately there was no choice, so if you didn't like a particular meal, you were a bit stuck. Nor was the menu published n advance. Drinks were inclusive for the duration of the meal (See below). Now the reasons for only a 3 star rating: We all complained that hotel was so hot. With about a 100ish people in the dining room it soon got very warm. We opened a window and got told, off as "the heating was on" it wasn't the radiators were cold. In the room the folder asked guests to only open the window for a max of 3mins to save energy. I could not find any kind of thermostat or radiator in our room, but it was too hot to sleep, so we did leave the window open. However the noise of the river was surprising loud, so sleep was not good. The hotel location is in a village with very few facilitates, so you re fully reliant on the hotel. There was no bar or lounge area, apart from some seats in the reception area. To be fair, drinks could be ordered from reception, but given this is a small family run hotel, most of the time it was not staffed. There are no tea / coffee making facilities in the room however, kettles can be loaned from reception, however there was never anyone at reception when I thought of asking. I'm guessing electricity usage is a concern, as the room towel rail was on a one hour timer and a thermostat (the only one to be seen). But what tended to happen, was the room was so hot, the thermostat never turned the towel rail on and the towels were always damp. All in all it is not a bad hotel and the staff / family are lovely, however my advise to them would be to move with the times and modernise a bit. A 3 star hotel with a 3 star rating.