This review highlights the fact that The Outdoor Retreat is not for everyone. It is in a home setting where you may have a private or shared room depending on what you book, but where the rest of the apartment (or house as in the case of our Icelandic property) is likely to be shared. Most people give us 5 stars, we guess because of the fantastic views and because people really feel like being at home. For example when we tell them they are welcome to use the kitchen if they clean up after themselves they get the impression we really mean it. So a shared house or apartment (including 1.5 toilets) is not everybody's cup of tea especially as we simply do not have the resources to clean everything everytime. We do however have an exceptionally high standard of hygiene, with a color system of cloths to avoid cross contamination which we have been using all the time but we have not seen in other guesthouses or hotels, the only place where we have seen such a system is in a hospital. Just as our place does not suit everyone, everyone does not suit our place because we do not want to develop a tough skin and superficial attitude. We would like to continue to welcome everyone from the heart. But in order to do so the guests that do come need to realize and appreciate both the magic and shortcomings of our place. Guests should be able to communicate with us directly in time if there is anything that makes them uncomfortable instead of finding an outlet for their frustration on the Internet which not only hurts us but may put you off from staying at our much appreciated place in the Swiss mountains or Iceland. A case in point is the story of Allium ursinum (a home made bärlauch/wild garlic pickle). As this is a home, guests actually share the fridge between themselves and with us. Allium ursinum pickle is not fungi waiting to attack their food but simply something that has a strong sweet garlic smell. So in this case simple communication in time would have clarified the situation. We could have even moved the pickle temporarily to another fridge which we had unplugged for environmental reasons. But to slander our fridge on the Internet is not something we would expect. We would like to use this opportunity to ask you as a potential guest, if you are the type of guest we are looking for and if our place is indeed the type of place you are looking for. We would very much like to see more guests that care for the environment and who would like to help us with our charitable projects. 🤗

Like in a 5 star hotel we have a pillow menu. But over and above that we have a duvet menu. This is located right outside the room. If this is not obvious the guests can simply ask. This allows guests to choose exactly the type of pillows they want and the size and thickness of duvets. Ideally there should not be any in the room itself so the guests can make the best choice for themselves. Hearing trickling water like on a traditional farm is generally considered a luxury. The water originates from our very own spring water well which is available straight from the tab.

Thank you. You are welcome back to our Swiss location or to visit our Iceland location for the first time.