A holiday with two families: two apartments, one house

Two families who want to travel together usually face the same question: one big place for everyone, or two separate bookings in two places? The first feels crowded by the third evening, the second as though you never really travelled together. Here in Alt St. Johann there is a third option: two fully independent holiday apartments in the same house. During the day the children run back and forth between them, and when the lights go out in the evening, each family has its own door.

Two apartments under one roof

Our house is the historic SutterSport building at Hauptstrasse 36 in Alt St. Johann, about an hour from Zurich, and it holds two independent apartments. Louisa’s Loft on the ground floor measures around 85 m² and sleeps up to 6 guests. Louisa’s Gallery is an apartment with a gallery level with around 106 m² for up to 6 guests.

Independent really does mean independent: your own kitchen, your own bathroom, your own terrace, your own outdoor whirlpool and one parking space each. You share nothing you would rather not share, and are still only a few steps apart. Take both apartments together and you have booked the whole house for up to 12 guests, with 2 whirlpools, 2 kitchens and 2 terraces.

Who sleeps where: how the split works in practice

The first thing you sort out is the bedrooms. Both apartments have 2 bedrooms plus a sofa bed and 1 bathroom each, and the differences are in the detail.

The Loft also has the Schafberg-Chalet room on the upper floor. That is the space that makes the difference with older children and teenagers: a retreat of their own, one floor above family life. The Gallery, in turn, has a bathroom with a bathtub, which is worth a lot with small children at the end of the day, plus a gallery level with table tennis and a desk in case someone needs a quiet hour of work.

Often the split sorts itself out: the family with the youngest children moves into the Gallery, the family with the older ones into the Loft. A travel cot and a high chair are already here, so you do not have to bring them.

During the day the house belongs to everyone

What brings two families together is not a shared bedroom, it is the shared day. One of the two apartments usually becomes the main one: that is where the cooking happens, where the table is laid, where everyone ends up after a walk. The second kitchen stays useful all the same: a child who is hungry at half past six will not wait for the grown-up dinner.

Both apartments are fully equipped, and both have a fondue and raclette set, a table football game and a play corner for children. One evening raclette in one apartment, dinner in the other the next day: that is as much planning as it takes.

Evenings: two doors, two rhythms

The real gain arrives around eight. Each family puts its children to bed in its own apartment, at its own pace and with its own routine. Nobody has to whisper because other people’s children are asleep next door, and nobody clears the living room because someone is sleeping in it.

Then the grown-up evening begins, and each side has its own version: the whirlpool on the terrace, the larger one in the Gallery holds up to 5 people, or a film on the smart TV with Netflix, Disney+ and Replay. If you feel like it, you meet up again in one of the two apartments. If you are tired, you simply walk through your own door. That freedom is what turns a nice weekend into a week that does everyone good.

Short distances for everyone

Two families rarely share the same daily plan, and the location is made for that. The village shop and the bus stop are 2 minutes on foot, the cross country ski trail starts 10 m from the house, the ski school is 200 m away. In winter you reach the slopes with ski-in and ski-out, more on that in our piece on the ski area at the Chäserrugg. In summer the swimming lakes Schwendisee and Gräppelensee are the place for warm days.

All around stand the Churfirsten, the Schafberg, the Säntis and the Chäserrugg. While one family goes hiking, the other rides up to the Chäserrugg or stays in the village with the little ones. For rainy days the Klangwelt Toggenburg is a good plan B. And if a dog comes along: dogs are welcome here, our own Lou lives in this house too. More on that in our piece on holidays with a dog in the Toggenburg.

How to book it as two families

The simplest way is to take both apartments together as the whole house, from CHF 280 per night, plus final cleaning and visitor’s tax. That way nobody else stays in between. Booked separately, Louisa’s Loft starts at CHF 110 per night and Louisa’s Gallery at CHF 130 per night, again plus final cleaning and visitor’s tax. A dog costs CHF 40 in the Loft and CHF 50 in the Gallery.

Splitting the bill is easy too: you see what each apartment costs and divide it as it suits your two families. Check-in is self-service with a number code, so you do not have to arrive at the same time. High speed Wi-Fi, a washing machine and a tumble dryer are part of the deal, which matters after a few days.

On Airbnb we have 5.0 from 16 reviews and Guest Favourite status. If you are unsure which apartment suits which family, just write to us. Isabel and Sandro will happily think it through with you, and Lou will be waiting in front of the house.