Lucerne ยท Switzerland
Reusswald
Seventy-one rooms in a lakefront house of 1897. The dining room looks over the promenade to the water, and the casino is a half-turn up the main stair.
Built on the quay in 1897
Grey stone and pale shutters over six floors, with a glass canopy at the entrance and the Lucerne lakefront right outside the front door.
Most people remember the staircase. It leaves the hall, turns twice and arrives under a skylight that sends daylight down the well until early evening. Next to it is the original lift, a small cabin behind a brass gate that you fold back by hand, and it still takes guests up to the sixth floor.
Rooms range from compact singles under the eaves to corner doubles with windows on two sides. Breakfast starts at quarter to seven in the dining room facing the water, and in summer the first tables go to people who have already walked the promenade.
Reception is staffed around the clock. You can leave luggage before check-in and after check-out, and the desk will hold a parcel, book a lake steamer or call a taxi at no charge.
- 71Rooms
- 1897Year built
- 9 minWalk to the station
- 24 hReception
Four kinds of room
Every room has kept its tall windows and original door furniture. The beds, bathrooms and wiring are new, and the proportions are as they always were.
The four are Seeblick Lake, Quai Balcony, Turm Corner and Dachstube Attic, and the rooms page lists sizes, bed widths and floors for each.
Four rooms that serve
There is a dining room on the water side, a bar off the hall, a glazed room for coffee and a lounge with a fire for the end of the evening.
Seesaal
Thirty-two covers with white cloths, and a row of windows looking over the promenade to the lake. Breakfast is 06:45 to 10:30, dinner 18:30 to 22:00, and lake fish is on the card most evenings.
Messing Bar
The brass counter beside the hall is open from four in the afternoon until half past midnight. It pours Swiss wines by the glass and a short list of spirits, and there's a pianist on Friday and Saturday.
Reusswald Casino
A room of the house opens for the evening half a turn up the main staircase from the hall, or one stop in the old lift.
Reusswald Casino is the hotel's own casino floor, on the mezzanine behind the double doors at the head of the first flight. You reach it from inside the building, without going back out onto the promenade. The room has a few tables and a bar, and it opens in the evening.
The legal age in Switzerland is 18, and photo identification is checked at the door on every visit, including for hotel guests. After seven we ask for a jacket or a collared shirt, and sportswear and beachwear aren't allowed. Limits are set on the floor by the staff on duty, so ask before you sit down.
It is a land-based casino inside a hotel, and the floor is the only place to play. This website offers no online games and takes no bets, deposits or payments, so there is nothing on these pages to wager.
On the promenade, nine minutes from the trains
Seequai 14 is on the lake side of the old town. The covered wooden bridge is a short walk west, and the boat landing stages are directly opposite.
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Arriving
From Zurich Airport the train to Luzern takes about an hour and ten minutes with one change. From the station you can walk along the water in nine minutes or take a taxi in four.
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On foot
Walk west for seven minutes and you reach the covered bridge. The old town squares, the lion monument and the lake baths are all within twenty minutes of the front steps.
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On the water
Steamers and motor vessels leave the quay opposite for Weggis, Vitznau and Alpnachstad. Reception has the current timetable and will print you a copy.