Midrange
Hotel Allalin
A beautiful hotel that is in the center of the action in zermatt. the hotel features incredible woodwork a friendly and accommodating staff and some rooms feature views of the matterhorn.
Walliserhof
Member of Swiss Quality Hotels International. The four star hotel built in typical Valaisan chalet style is on the main street, 300m from the train station. Zermatt is absolutely car-free, so you need to take the train from Täsch to reach the village. Or you switch to one of the local cabs. Two-person room from 350CHF high season as of January 2009.www.reconline.ch/walliserhof/ www.SwissQualityHotels.com
Schönegg
Member of Swiss Quality Hotels International. Four star superior hotel located 300m away from the train station and the city center. Zermatt is absolutely car-free, so you need to take the train from Täsch to reach the village. Or you switch to one of the local cabs. Single room from 180CHF, Two-person room from 239CHF low season 2009.www.schonegg.ch www.SwissQualityHotels.com
Alpenroyal
Member of Swiss Quality Hotels International. Three star hotel located 300m away from the train station and the city center. Zermatt is absolutely car-free, so you need to take the train from Täsch to reach the village. Or you switch to one of the local cabs. Single room from 180CHF, Two-person room from 239CHF low season 2009.www.alpenroyal.ch www.SwissQualityHotels.com
Top end
Mont Cervin
The mont cervin has the advantage of being part of a hotel chain, and guests can eat in other chain-owned zermatt hotels in their 'dine around' program, including the riffelalp on the gornergrat glacier.
The Omnia
(http://www.the-omnia.com), auf dem fels head toward the church from the train station and take a right just before the library, tel: +41 27 966 71 71, [email protected] . a modern interpretation of the swiss alpine lodge, this hotel has a chic feel to it without being pretentious. be sure to experience the indoor/outdoor swimming pool and outdoor hot tub, which has an amazing view of the matterhorn. the mattresses are tempur-pedic, which some people find difficult to adjust to.
Zermatterhof
(http://www.matterhorn-gro...), bahnhofstrasse 55, tel: +41 27 966 66 00, [email protected]. considered to be one of the best hotels in town. while expensive, you get what you pay for, and it includes everything from a horse drawn carriage ride to the hotel from the train station, as well as a ski storage room complete with ski technician during the winter season.
For a tiny hamlet Zermatt has more hotels than most big cities. There are 126 hotels and over 2700 apartments to rent for holidays. Apparently that's still not quite enough. If you want a good value room then perhaps you should consider booking ahead.
There are other options. You can camp, or as throughout Europe vacation apartments are the rage. Time shares are another option: if you know you want to ski one week per year, maybe go in with a friend or two on a property. Foreigners are allowed to buy up to a certain square meterage in Switzerland, and you are free to lease, rent, or otherwise assign the property any way you like, barring industrial use.
camping
If you're on a budget, try camping. The climate is mild, even in the winter, so if you know a bit about camping you should be able to stay warm and dry at pretty much any altitude lower than about 500m above the village pretty much any time of year.
For beginner campers there is a camping area open in Zermatt during the summer months. It's to the left of the train station's main exit. Follow the street for a couple of hundred meters.
The campsite in Tasch is only about 100 meters 330 ft from the train station and works out at about 20CHF a night for 2 people sharing a small tent without a car.
Stove fuels are reasonably hard to find although you can buy them in some of the outdoor shops in Zermatt itself. You are unlikely to find any in Tasch. MSR butane/propane canisters and Coleman's liquid fuel are definitely available if you hunt around. Obviously in Switzerland you can also buy fondue fuel usually meths which will work well in Trangia stoves.
tã¤sch
Täsch is the next village down the mountain from Zermatt itself and shuttle trains run between the two villages approximately every 10-20 minutes during the day. The journey time is about 10 minutes and passes through some stunning scenery. The last train down the mountain to Tasch leaves Zermatt at around 11.20PM. The trains cost 7.60 CHF each way and tickets can be bought from automatic machines. The machines only accept coins or 20 CHF notes although you can buy tickets from the ticket office instead for most of the day. Note that the cash dispensers don't give out notes smaller than 50 CHF so don't arrive late in Täsch without any change.
Täsch offers beautiful cross-country skiing trails from difficult to easy. If you don't have your own x-country skis, there is a shop in the village right by the train terminal that rents equipment. A day pass is quite cheap costing only CHF 5. which can be purchased at the train terminal window 1 or in the ski-rental shop.
Budget
Despite the great number of hotels, pensions, and vacation apartments in Zermatt, few can be considered "budget".
Hotel Bahnhof (http://www.hotelbahnhof.com/) offers hostel-like dormitory accommodation for 33CHF as well as singles from CHF65 and doubles from CHF90. It is just east of Bahnhofplatz.
Matterhorn Hostel (http://www.matterhornhost...), Schluhmattstrasse 32, offers dorm accommodation for CHF33, or CHF29 for stays of 3 nights and longer.
If extensive hiking is in your plans, mountain huts may be an option.
Near the base of the Matterhorn, the SAC-operated Schönbielhütte (http://www.holidaynet.ch/...) offers dormitory lodging for CHF32. SAC members are accommodated first and enjoy cheaper rates. Schönbielhütte is a 4 hour hike from Zermatt via Zmutt, but consider the more scenic 6 hour route via Pension Edelweiss, Hotel du Trift, and Höhbalmen.
Near Rothorn, the Fluhalp Restaurant (http://www.fluhalp-zermatt.ch/) offers dorm accommodation for CHF29 or doubles for CHF86. Fluhalp is accessible on foot 3 hours from Zermatt via Winkelmatten or by funicular/cable car Zermatt-Sunnega-Blauhard, then 45 min walk.