About Alpnest
It started with a feeling that something real was missing from modern travel. So we set out to build an alternative – slower, smaller, and closer to the heart.
It started with a need
It started with a simple need: to find stays in Switzerland that actually felt like somewhere. As an expat living here, the search for places with real character kept coming up short. Too polished, too generic, or charming but falling apart at the seams.
So we started creating a list.
Places worth returning to. Hosts who cared. Homes that felt lived in — not staged.
That question became Alpnest.
The Why
Because where you sleep changes how you feel. And how you feel changes everything else.
The How
Chosen by hand. Vetted in person. Approved by people who'd actually go back.
The People behind the places
Not investors. Not developers.
But caretakers. Gardeners. Bakers. Grandchildren who stayed.
Stories of the walls
Real hospitality is an extension of someone's life — not their business plan. The hosts we choose still gather herbs, still bake bread, still open the shutters each morning like it means something.
We don't look for perfection. We look for presence.
These are homes that breathe with the seasons. Places with stories in the walls and people who know them. That's what we're looking for. That's what we think you deserve.
What do we believe in?
That the place you sleep shapes the whole trip. That character and comfort aren’t opposites. That travelling with kids, dogs, or a group shouldn’t mean giving up on quality. And that the best stays are chosen by people who’ve actually been disappointed before.
Who’s behind this?
Alpnest was founded by Martyna from a simple need: to find stays in Switzerland that offered both character and comfort. Travelling with a family made it harder — the choice always seemed to fall between places with soul but no ease, or comfort with no personality.
And then she met Franziska. A Swiss host with deep roots in the local market, the same impossible standards — and, as it turned out, the same problem. She believed in the project from the start.
Both have families. Both know what it means to want a stay that works for everyone without giving anything up. Together they built Alpnest around a simple filter: would we book this ourselves? The answer still has to be yes.