hey. we (me, wife and 5 year old daughter) are planning a trip to wengen then lugano this october. any thoughts on lugano hotels that will allow us to fall out the door and stroll to the high points? we will have a car but do not want to have to drive for all our sight seeing, meals, etc. thanks for your thoughts.

Good morning
Thje HOTEL LUGANO DANTE,Pza Cioccaro, 5 is a four star with 53 rooms located in the old town area of Lugano at the
bottom of the funiculare coming down from the main Bahnhof. It is about twoblocks to the docks and centered in
the old town area. Have used this hotel a coupole of tilmes in the past and have been very satisified with it.
Tho not on the lake they have a cabana
for used in warmer weather...
Richard of LaGrange Park, Il.
see www.hotel-luganodante.ch/...
Ristorante Sayuonara across the street
is excellant reasonable menu and pizza..

We stayed at the Dante in October 2003. It does have a good location (and parking!) but registers low on the charm-o-meter. It's basically a business hotel (lots of meetings and small conventions), and the desk staff reflects a crisp, business attitude.

The hotel's buffet breakfast is amazing, which would probably be a great selling point with a 5-year-old in tow. Our room overlooked the piazza in front of the hotel; fairly small size with a small but adequate sized bathroom. You'd need a larger room to accommodate your daughter.

I highly recommend a ferry ride to Morcote for a change of scene. Lugano is shop-shop-and-shop-some-more. Morcote does have a few souvenir-type shops but is mostly a destination for strolling, enjoying the views and perhaps lunch at an outdoor ristorante. The same ferry can take you to the Switzerland in miniature attraction (forget the official name) which your daughter would enjoy.

I can't help you with hotels because we always stay with relatives in the area, but I have gone there with my kids at varying ages and they really enjoyed Swissminiatur (as the previous poster had mentioned). It's kind of an amusement park with miniature buildings of all of Switzerland. You can get there by ferry boat from Lugano. It's on the way to Morcote, but a few stops before.

Also, by the promenade lakeside is a wonderful park with a large playground. Your daughter will probably love to interact with the local kids and let off some steam.

Susan

I don't think any hotel will just let you fall out the door, if you do fall out the door your 5 yr old will be pushing you in the stroller!!