Carina - Design&Lifestyle Hotel in Zermatt

This winter there has been limited snow in the Alps with Zermatt only having 70 of it 360km open. When I reached out to the hotel to find an alternative date when there was a bit more snow, I was just told it was not possible and if I cancelled I would be charged the full amount. The staff were not helpful at all. For a place that prides itself on customer service, they were not at the expected level. Will likely not make the effort to go again.

Location: The hotel is in a GREAT location. It is not on the main street of Zermatt but a 10 minute walk. It was located in a quieter area and convenient to the ski lift and the Denner grocery store. Zermatt is incredibly hilly with steep inclines to reach certain hotels. There is a short hill to reach Hotel Carina which makes is pretty walkable, however, I do not recommend staying here with elderly or children. You can walk here from the train station (10 minute walk) but we took a taxi for $15 so we weren't drag our luggage through the streets (although we saw many people doing this). Staff: The staff is young and kind. They are attentive and helpful. Laura gave us an overview of the slope map and restaurant recommendations. The cleaning staff kindly serviced our room upon request and the reception ordered us a taxi for transport. Accommodations: We stayed in the Mountain Penthouse and had an exquisite view of the town and the Matterhorn. Our place had a modern kitchen and family room area, and upstairs had a king bed. The room was clean and modern. The bed was incredibly hard, like a futon, but adding extra pillows to the bed helped us sleep. We also found the couch to be comfortable to sleep on. The place can technically sleep four people because the pull out sofa but the place would be too crowded. There was no place to store open suitcases and no place to store clothing (like dressers or drawers). We kept our suitcases on the floor of the kitchen. The bathrooms also had tiny round mirrors that were hung pretty high and there was no place for brushes or toiletries for getting ready. There are two full length mirrors which were GREAT but no outlets near them for drying hair. Basically there was very little space for the things we brought and so we felt unorganized during the stay. Breakfast and Dinner: The restaurant is convenient and lovely. We enjoyed dinner and breakfast. We loved the coffee machine and toast, and we had boiled eggs and yogurt. Spa area: This area is open from 4:00pm-9:00pm. There is a sauna that needs a repair on the door to hold in the heat and a steam room that worked great. There is a lounging area with towels and lemon water. There is also a shower but the shower does not have a lock on it so it's a bit awkward to actually shower there. Why the hotel earned few stars: This hotel does not offer 24 hour reception and we experienced an emergency at 5am. The reception area was dark and locked with no posted hours of operation and no instructions on what to do in an emergency. So there are periods of time when there are zero staff members present at the hotel. Outside of the hotel was a sign that said call this number for 24 hour assistance but we called it and it was out of service. We called the police but no one there spoke English at the early hours of the morning. If you are traveling from out of the country, it is important to note when you book a hotel that does not offer 24 hour reception because it could put