Have been staying at The Park Hotel for the last 5 years for a few days during the summer, this year we felt that service and food was not as good as previous years. The staff in the 4 Season restaurant is not very well managed and the Manager is both unwelcoming and supercilious. However the staff in the Panorama Restaurant for breakfast are a delight, especially one waitress (sorry didn't get her name), but on a very, very wet day in Vitnau shared her umbrella all the way back to the hotel. The views from the rooms are magical and now that air condition units are in the bedrooms (although very Heath Robinson) make it more comfortable. It would have been nice if the pool staff had petrolled the grounds on a very hot day to ask if anyone wanted drinks etc a service which would have saved us going in to ask for drinks etc. Sadly not sure if we will return next year but as the hotel shuts down every year maybe new staff will be recruited for next year which will improve things.

Our friends have been coming to this hotel for two weeks each summer for the last 15 years and love it. So after hiking in the Alps we decided to book two days here on our way to Lucerne.

The first room they gave us, to put it generously, would have been considered poor at a Holiday Inn. It was tiny, bare, and on the road with a view of the parking lot. And at $650 Swiss Francs a night would not be considered a bargain to say the least. The front desk and then the general manager told us that this was all that they had available.

Finally, on our second call to the manager to tell them to find us another hotel, we mentioned how disappointed we were especially after our friends the xxx's had told us about how wonderful the hotel was. Long pause. "Oh, you're friends of the xxx's. Let me get back to you." Not more than five minutes later the front desk calls us to tell us they were moving us to a new room.

The new room was spectacular. Spacious, well appointed, and a wonderful view of the lake. And a bottle of champagne from the manager.

While we appreciated the move, the champagne and the new room, the message we received loud and clear is that the Vitznau is not a place for the casual traveler. We had made our reservation a month earlier and we weren't just dropping in. But it seeems a two-day stay, and not knowing whose name to drop can result in an awful experience. If you know the secret code word to join the club this hotel may be a five star experience. If not, given the huge number of hotels on the Lake, there are better choices.

The hotel's location is superb.
The guys at the front desk seem to be more interested in themselves than in the guest requests. The staff is in part unfriendly.
The service (especially in the restaurants) was appropriate to a three-star hotel.
The quality of the food was only average (in both restaurants).
The hotel's public rooms are beautiful. The hotel room was clean, comfortable and quiet but nothing special (only the view – Most of the rooms overlooking the lake). Air-conditioning is missing.

This hotel effortlessly combines elegance, class and quality without making guests feel in the least bit 'oppressed' as can often happen in some 5* establishments. Lakeside rooms have a vista of mountains and lake that are genuinely jaw dropping when you first enter your room - you'll think at first that its a wall painted with a mural! We had two kids (aged 7 and 9) in tow and whilst they don't want children running wild and impacting on other guests (we wouldn't visit again if they did) they are certainly accomodating, friendly and helpful in this area. Lake swimming is superb and the pool is spectacular. Restaurants and food are 1st class but wine list is truly astromonically priced. That's Switzerland though rather than the hotel!