Schloss Hünigen hosts seminars and conferences for up to 250 people theatre style, banquets for up to 154 and weddings for up to 120 guests, with 49 bedrooms on site. The castle is a four-star seminar and boutique hotel at Konolfingen, in the canton of Bern, set in its own park between Bern and Thun where the Emmental valley begins.
Seminars and company events
Nine rooms are available, from the Haller Saal for plenary sessions to small parlors for eight. The seminar packages, for groups of 10 or more, include a plenary room with projector or screen, flip chart, pin board, moderation case and Wi-Fi, two coffee breaks and a buffet or three-course lunch. A superior package adds a breakout room. Small groups can also work outdoors in the park. After the sessions, the castle offers a bar, wellness treatments and e-mountain bikes for the hills around the estate.
Weddings and receptions
The castle hosts ceremony and party for up to 120 guests and, since 2023, can be booked for exclusive use with all its rooms, the park and the 49 bedrooms. Ceremonies take place outdoors in a small wood of old trees or on a meadow facing the castle, and move indoors if the weather turns. Aperitifs are served under a sequoia, dinner follows in the Von May Saal or the Haller Saal, and the castle bar and the Carnotzet keep the evening going late.
Rooms and capacities
The Haller Saal (175 m²) seats 250 theatre style, 80 classroom, 120 at round tables and 42 in a U-shape, and divides into three rooms; for banquets it takes 154 at six long tables. The Von May Saal (85 m²), a former library, takes 90 theatre style and 60 at round tables. The Von Scharnachthal Pavilion (70 m²), with a wide glass front, holds 60 theatre style or 36 for a banquet. The Mühlestube takes 40 theatre style, and the Schloss Stube, Diessbacher Stube, Kätheli Stube, Bubenberg Stube and Röthenbach Stube suit boards of 8 to 22. The Castle Cellar seats 14 at one long table.
Accommodation
The hotel has 49 bedrooms, enough to keep a whole seminar group or wedding party on site for the night.
Catering
The in-house kitchen runs the restaurant L'Artisan, the castle bar, seminar lunches and wedding buffets built on seasonal produce. A brunch is served at the castle every Sunday.
History and setting
Hans Rudolf von Scharnachtal acquired the estate in 1501, and his grandson Niklaus built the present castle in the mid-16th century with stones from an earlier castle that had burned. The von May family owned it from 1588 to 1922, when it was sold and turned into a hotel. A renovation in 1997 and 1998 made it a four-star house, and since 2019 it has belonged to Walter Inäbnit and Matthias Spycher.
Getting there
The regional train from Konolfingen stops at Stalden, a few steps from the castle, about 30 minutes from Bern. By car, leave the A6 at Rubigen coming from Bern or at Kiesen coming from Thun. The castle has 100 free parking spaces, and Bern Airport is the nearest airport.
