Great View, Good Food A friend who is resident in Lugano introduced us to this well-known lakeside restaurant within a very established, some say stuffy, hotel in Lugano. The terrace view is great and we enjoyed an avocado salad, the vegetarian lasagna, and well-prepared salmon. Service was professional but perfunctory. Prices are on the high side, but this is Lugano. We ate well and enjoyed the view. As the other review, written years ago noted, observing the other clientele has a certain entertainment value, but not because they are young and hip. Not much has changed in a decade. read more

2.5/5 stars - Beautiful views, but a hotel trying too hard to be something it's not This hotel feels like a mid-range property trying very hard to project the image of a luxury hotel, but the service, atmosphere, and attention to detail simply don't support that positioning. The positives first: the lake views are stunning, the location on the water is beautiful (about 10 minutes by bus from central Lugano), housekeeping was excellent, the breakfast cappuccino was fantastic, and the fresh-squeezed orange juice was a wonderful touch. We also enjoyed a quality dinner with friendly restaurant service. However, if you're traveling with young children, I would absolutely NOT consider this a family-friendly hotel. The day before check-in, we emailed to confirm our reservation and were given incorrect dates, causing unnecessary stress, before receiving a follow-up confirming that our original dates were correct. Throughout the hotel there are numerous stern, angry-sounding signs everywhere - don't use pool towels without assistance, don't take food from breakfast, don't feed the fish, don't feed the birds, etc. While rules are understandable, the cumulative effect is an atmosphere that feels much more focused on enforcement than hospitality. The pool policies perfectly capture the overall vibe. Guests are limited to one towel per person, additional towels require an extra charge, there is absolutely no self-service for towels, and guests are expected to purchase food and beverages from the hotel rather than bring their own water or snacks to enjoy by the pool. Individually these rules may be understandable, but together they create an experience that feels unnecessarily rigid and commercial rather than relaxing and welcoming. The property itself also feels somewhat tired. There is older furniture throughout and inexpensive, cheesy tablecloths that don't align with the upscale image the hotel is so desperately trying to project. We also had an unpleasant experience renting a paddle boat. We were told to find it ourselves and then, upon returning, were charged three times the clearly posted rate and told it was priced per person, despite both the signage and rental form clearly stating it was priced per boat. When I politely questioned the discrepancy, the staff member involved struggled to remain professional. After a long day in the sun, our exhausted children simply wanted to eat sandwiches and go to bed. Out of respect, I asked where we could quietly do this with minimal impact to hotel operations and was told they could sit on the floor of their hotel room to eat. We instead sat discreetly on a floating dock away from hotel service areas and were confronted and yelled at by the same staff member, who called the owner's wife but then would not allow us to speak with her. Unbelievable. The front desk staff also felt surprisingly inattentive. Rather than feeling welcomed and cared for, interactions often felt dismissive and transactional. It created the impression that internal routines may be prioritized over guest experience. Finally, I recently came across a February 2026 news article discussing a potential sale of the property and possible redevelopment into apartments, although nothing appears to be official. If those discussions are indeed ongoing, it would not surprise me if some of the service and maintenance shortcomings we experienced are related to uncertainty about the hotel's future. In summary: a beautiful property with incredible views that could be excellent, but currently feels like a hotel trying very hard to be high-end without delivering a truly high-end guest experience - especially for families. read more

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My group and I stopped in to take a look at the hotel lobby as we were walking by. The woman at the front desk was very welcoming and was happy to show us to the back to see the view. It was was nice sunny day in February and the view was hard to pass up, so we stopped for a drink accompanied by an apertif. Although I cannot speak on the food itself, I can definitely recommend this hotel for a drink on a nice day. read more

This is one of the more traditional hotels in Lugano, on the lake in the quiet Cassarete neighborhood east of downtown. It hearkens back to the day when visitors came to resorts like Lugano for extended stays, ate nearly all their meals at the same hotel, and whiled away the days playing cards or promenading on the strand with their pets and lovers. It is an elegant, if aging, dowager with an aging clientele that has remained constant for decades. We used to put my sister up here when she came to visit, only because the hotel was a few hundred meters from our apartment. You never see guests in the lobby - one assumes they are all dozing in their rooms - and the race for dinner never gets much beyond a trickle. If you want to try this place, we suggest that you wait until you are rich and in your 70s. If you arrive with a 25-year-old Italian beauty on your arm (messieurs) or a poodle on a diamond-studded leash (mesdames), you will fit right in. read more