I can't say enough good things about this simple, but clean family run hotel.

My family of 4, my brohter's family of 4 and his mother-in-law stayed in a total of four rooms in early July 2011. Some of us speak fluent (or at least passable) German which made communication and booking much easier, but the staff does speak English well enough for those that can't speak German.

The rooms are relstively small and have firm, but comfortable beds. The rooms are also on four floors with no elevator. The staff will gladly help you up/down with luggage, but our room was on the first floor and the boys' was on the fourth, so running up and down got to be a little tiresome.

During our stay there were a couple of days that were unseasonably hot (95 degrees F). The rooms were warm without A/C, but small fans were provided and as is typical, the rooms cooled off quickly at night as temperatures dropped. We had the windows open and while there is clearly noise from the road, churchbells and train, we did not find it disturbing.

What really set this hotel apart from all of our pervious experiences (my mother is Swiss and I lived in Switzerland for three years as a teenager) was the staff / owners. They quicly learned our needs and "quirks". One child has asthma and we carry medication that needs to be refrigerated. Each night the staff provided a vaccuum sealed ice pack so that we could store the medicine in our room -- after the first day, we never had to ask, the icepack simply appeared on the check in counter with a room number tag. Similarly, by the second day the staff knew I took my coffee black.

Since this was a large family trip and we were on somewhat of a tight budget, we opted to buy the makings of simple dinners at the grocery store (dried meats, cheeses, fruits, bread, etc). The owners / staff allowed us to used the breakfast room to eat this makeshift dinner so that the group could all eat together -- keep in mind that they have an operating restaurant just a few feet away from the breakfast room and could have easily declined to let us use the breakfast room.

Speaking of breakfast, yes, it is continental -- meaning bread/rolls, butter, jelly/jam, cheese, coffee/tea, juice, milk. As in most of Europe, this is to be expected and we found it to be quite adequate. We had our main meals at lunchtime in a restaurant.as most days we did a day trip to a different city or mountain.

However, some of us did eat dinner twice in the attached restaruant -- the food was excellent and the service beyond reproach. Often the lunch restaurant crowd overflowed into the breakfast room -- the food really is that good (although not inexpensive). They have a Tagesmenu (think daily special) for dinner at CHF 17.50 (about 20 bucks) which includes soup or salad, and the main course. Lunch is actually a bit more expensive, especially if ordering ala carte. Their icecreams are homemade and delicious as is their salad dressing.

Second to the service, the next best thing about this hotel is its location. Central Luzern is easily walkable, but Bus Route #1 stops literally outside the door of the hotel. This bus runs about every 5 to 10 minutes during the day and takes about 10 minutes to get the the main trainstation. From there you can take a train to just about anywhere you want to go. And trains ARE the way to go in Switzerland -- get a "Swiss Pass". They are expensive, but worth every penny. We paid abut $1,100 (CHF 980) for eight-day first class passes (second class passes are substantially less expensive, but this is one thing you may want to splurge on -- if you want to really see Switzerland you are going to be spending some substantial time on trains -- first class is never crowded, sometimes there is standing room only in 2nd class). Both of our boys are under 16, so they road free, but you have to get a "family card" when you buy the Swiss Passes for this to work. With the pass you can ride virtually any, bus, boat or train in the country at no additional cost. You will have to pay for lifts and cable cars up the mountains, but these are ususally half off with the Swiss Pass (note this can be a huge savings -- the cost for 4 of us to go to the top of a mountain called Titlis was CHF 110 -- at the half off price!).

Back to the Hotel -- In summary, pros are Service and Location. Cons are no A/C if you just can't live without it and lack of an elevator if you have a room on a higher floor.