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Top 5 questions
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What advantages and benefits do I gain with a membership?
- You benefit from inexpensive accommodation in our approximantely 50 Swiss youth hostels and in more than 4,000 international youth hostels
- You enjoy numerous discounts at our partners
- With your membership, you help us to support family-friendly social tourism in Switzerland
Become a member now
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Is the membership card internationally valid?
Yes, membership of Swiss Youth Hostels is also accepted worldwide at all youth hostels belonging to the federation.
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Do I have to bring a sleeping bag?
No, in all Swiss youth hostels bedding is provided as part of your stay.
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Are bath towels and hand towels available in the rooms?
Rooms with their own bathrooms include one bath towel per person. For rooms with shared bathrooms, please bring your own towels. You can also rent towels at the hostel.
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Are self-catering kitchens available in the youth hostels?
Only the group hostels include a kitchen where you can cater for yourself. On request, guest kitchens are available in the following youth hostels: Beinwil am See, Mariastein and Seelisberg.
Membership
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Do I have to be a member to be able to stay in a youth hostel?
Yes. Swiss Youth Hostels is an association of which you must be a member in order to stay overnight.
We offer a Hostel Card Premium (annual membership) and Hostel Card Standard (daily membership) at CHF 7.00.
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Is there a student discount?
Yes, we offer annual membership at a reduced rate of CHF 22.00 for students, instead of CHF 33.00.
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Is the membership internationally valid?
No. Everyone can stay the night with us.
The Hostel Card Standard is included in the price of your overnight stay. You can purchase a Hostel Card Premium at the hostel or online to benefit from reduced overnight rates (CHF 7.00 discount per adult per night). Info and benefits of the Hostel Card Premium.
You can also take advantage of the reduced overnight rates if you have a hostel card of another national association. -
How long is my membership valid for?
Annual membership is valid for one year from the day in which the membership card was issued.
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Can grandparents obtain a Family card with their grandchildren?
No, grandparents need an individual membership. However, with Senior membership, grandparents can include their grandchildren at the reduced member price.
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Can couples or married couples without children also apply for Family membership?
No, Family membership is for couples/mothers/fathers with their own children under 18 years of age.
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Is membership transferable?
No, membership is issued to one person and can only be used by this individual. Only the non-personal group membership is transferable.
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Is the membership renewed automatically?
You will receive a reminder shortly before the end of the membership year. The membership will be renewed when the fee has been paid.
Accommodation/Meals
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Do I have to bring a sleeping bag?
No, in all Swiss Youth Hostels bedding is provided as part of your stay. An exception can be found in Mariastein. There, guests in the shared room get linen sleeping bags. The beds are covered with fitted sheets and there are pillows, pillowcases and blankets.
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Do I have to bring my own bath towel?
Rooms with their own bathrooms include one bath towel per person. For rooms with shared bathrooms, please bring your own towels. You can also rent towels at the hostel.
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Does each room have its own bathroom?
Most of the rooms have a sink or their own shower/WC. If not specified, the bathroom will be on the same floor.
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Is breakfast included?
Yes, breakfast is included in the accommodation rate. Except the group houses, these are equipped with self-cooking kitchens.
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Are there any self-catering kitchens in the youth hostels?
Only the group hostels include a kitchen where you can cater for yourself. On request, guest kitchens are available in the following youth hostels: Beinwil am See, Bellinzona, Lugano, Mariastein, Seelisberg and Trin.
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How much is an evening meal?
At Swiss Youth Hostels, we offer a 3-4 course menu/buffet from CHF 19.50 for adults, CHF 14.50 for kids aged 6-12, CHF 8.50 for kids aged 2-5 (except group hostels and Sta. Maria Youth Hostel).
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Is early arrival possible?
Check-in is possible during reception opening times. In the case of early arrival, luggage can be left at the youth hostel.
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Are there parking spaces, and are they free of charge?
In most youth hostels, parking is available at CHF 10 per night.
In Gstaad, Laax and Interlaken, garage parking spaces are available for CHF 15 per night.
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Can a family also stay overnight in a multibed room?
Please contact the youth hostel directly if you want to stay as a family with children under the age of 6 in a dormitory rather than in a family room.
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Is it possible to wash clothes in the hostels?
Yes, a laundry service is available on request.
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Was bedeutet «Nordisch Schlafen»?
Barrier-free
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How many barrier-free Swiss Youth Hostels are there?
Today, 33 of the approximatnely 50 Swiss Youth Hostels are barrier-free. 25 of these are suitable for disabled persons and 8 are partially suitable. Whereas the “suitable” hostels can meet the requirements for disabled access in all areas, including the arrival route, the entry and the wet cells, the partially suitable hostels present individual limitations, about which information is provided on a case-by-case basis (for example dimensions for ease of access not always achieved etc.).
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Are all rooms in Swiss Youth Hostels barrier-free?
The Swiss Youth Hostels offer barrier-free beds in a range of rooms from 2-bed rooms with their own shower/WC to multi-bed rooms. With the barrier-free beds, care has also been taken to ensure the widest possible room offering, and in turn a broad price mix. Not all rooms are necessarily barrier-free however. Obviously, the upper level of bunk beds is not barrier-free.
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Who are the Swiss Youth Hostels addressing with their barrier-free offering?
The Swiss Youth Hostels see it as part of their mission in social tourism to permit accessibility to everyone without exception. Their facilities and services have to benefit all guests, in particular also people with a physical or mental disability or with hearing, vision or speech impairment, who are able to travel alone or with an accompanying persons.
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How can disabled people make bookings?
Essentially, disabled people book just like any other guest. Up to now, the emphasis was on telephone booking, enabling the special needs to be clarified precisely in advance. It is also possible for disabled persons to book their special requirements such as a barrier-free room directly online.
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Does the principle “Disabled people first” apply to the booking of barrier-free rooms?
Equal treatment of all guests is a fundamental principle for the Swiss Youth Hostels; no preference is given, not even to people with disabilities. However, it is all the more important for the Swiss Youth Hostels to satisfy the specific needs of people with disabilities for information, booking facilities etc. and to train the staff accordingly.
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What information is provided by the Swiss Youth Hostels for people with disabilities?
The Swiss Youth Hostels provide specific information on how to get to the hostel, on facilities and technical information such as door widths, lift sizes etc. as well as suggestions for excursions in the region. People with disabilities have individual limitations when travelling. It is therefore important for them to check before departure, if facilities are sufficiently barrier-free to meet their personal needs.
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Are the barrier-free Swiss Youth Hostels entirely suitable for the visually impaired?
Travellers with guide and therapy dogs are welcome in all Swiss Youth Hostels. Our many building measures also help to make life easier for visually-impaired persons during their stay with us.
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Why does the Swiss Youth Hostels website not have a barrier-free certification?
We cannot fulfil all of the requirements specified in the certification. For example, links to tourist partners and PDF documents provided by the hostels (daily menu) are not always readable in a barrier-free way. In general, however, we strive to adhere to AAA certification requirements, and deviate only in those cases that constitute a major challenge, either financially or in terms of the effort involved.
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Does the Swiss Youth Hostels staff receive training?
Yes, regularly. Courses to increase awareness for the needs of disabled people are offered repeatedly as part of the internal training programme.
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Are disabled people also involved to the joint project between the Swiss Youth Hostels and the Denk an mich Foundation?
The Swiss Youth Hostels employ a certain number of persons with disabilities in their organization. However, the focus of this specific project is not on creating jobs for the disabled, but on the providing a barrier-free tourist offer. In this respect, the experiences of directly affected persons are especially important. Mrs. Ursula Schwaller - architect and Board Member of the Denk an mich Foundation – is a wheelchair user and supports and supervises the project in the Denk an mich foundation steering committee. In addition, the Schweizerische Fachstelle für behindertengerechtes Bauen (a specialist organization for barrier-free construction), represented by Joe Manser and Beni Rüdisüli, is also a partner of the project together with the Federal Bureau for the Equality of People with Disabilities (FBED). Both gentlemen are wheelchair users and support the project both technically and by personal experience.
Others
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Are there any age limits for youth hostel guests?
Guests of all ages are welcome at Swiss Youth Hostels.
In the Canton of Ticino, the law prohibits the accommodation of people under the age of 16 unless they are accompanied by an adult. In the other cantons, people aged between 14 and 16 years require written consent from their parents when travelling alone.
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Are pets allowed in youth hostels?
Some youth hostels let you bring dogs with you on request. Guide dogs, therapy dogs and assistance dogs for persons with disabilities are allowed. Please contact the youth hostel directly if you would like to bring your dog. Other pets are not allowed. Here our top tips for a perfect stay with your dog.
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Does Swiss Youth Hostels offer cancellation insurance?
The Swiss Youth Hostels offer cancellation insurance (PDF) from AWP P&C S.A., Paris. The cost is 4% of the package price.
If you fall ill, have an accident or have to go into quarantine before or during your trip, Allianz Travel will pay the contractual cancellation costs owed.
You can send the documents (booking confirmation, invoice for cancellation costs, original invoices for additional travel costs, medical certificate, death certificate) to the following address:
- AWP P&C S.A., Saint-Ouen (Paris)
Wallisellen Branch (Switzerland)
Richtiplatz 1
CH - 8304 Wallisellen
- AWP P&C S.A., Saint-Ouen (Paris)
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Do Swiss Youth Hostels offer children’s prices?
Children aged 2 to 5 years stay for just CHF 15 and children aged 6 to 12 years for just CHF 25 per night in the parents’ or grandparents’ room, breakfast included. Babies aged 0 to 1 year stay for free in a cot, if available. Children’s prices do not apply to double rooms. No reductions on children’s rates.
We offer also special group rates for children: Children aged 2–5 years, a flat rate of CHF 15.–; from 6–12 years, accommodation prices / group prices apply
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