Luxury hotel suggestions needed in Veranna, Italy and Lucerne, Switzerland?
 

Hi! My husband and I are looking for the best hotel in Veranna (on Lake Como) AND Lucerne, Switzerland for a special anniversary trip. Cost is not a factor as we are splurging for the special occasion. Any other suggestions for visiting these areas are welcome. Thanks!

Luzern, luxury perhaps not but location is one of the best IMO: The Des Balances

For most people who post on this forum, cost is a factor, especially in the expensive destinations you are considering, and most people have not stayed in different hotels in these towns, they have stayed in one and have no basis of comparison to other places. Many people's idea of luxury might not be what you would call luxurious.

There are websites like Luxury Hotels of the World, or even booking.com will list all the luxury hotels for the towns you plan to visit. You can read reviews from hundreds of people who stayed in the hotels, and look up more on TripAdvisor, to find out if these hotels approximate your idea of luxury and deliver the amenities you want.

We stayed at the Grand Hotel National which is a classic. Very traditional - from the 1890s - and right on the lake within a few minutes walk of the old town. But be sure you get the lake view rooms.

I just checked and they are about $450 per night advance purchase and $550 per night for a double room. But you might want to consider a suite - we usually do if staying more than 1 or 2 night.

On another trip we stayed at the Montana - part way up the hill from the Grand National. More a 4* and a little longer walk to the town - but incredible views out over the lake and mountains (we had a small balcony).

the Des Balances does have very good views and their restaurant is wonderful. We did not stay there so can't comment on the rooms.

What time of year are you going?

The Grand Hotel Villa Serbelloni in Bellagio would be the closest 'luxury' hotel to Varenna.

http://www.villaserbelloni.com/Bellagio/en/

Look at the Hotel Schweizerhof in Lucerne. We met up with friends who were staying there. Very swank, and they were happy with the choice. We were staying on the other side of the river at the Hotel Wilden Mann which I liked very much. Lower on the swank scale but more charming IMO. We've now stayed there twice.

http://www.schweizerhof-luzern.ch/en.html

http://www.wilden-mann.ch/en/Hotel

When you say "cost is not a factor"', exactly what are your reference points? There are those who think nothing about spending several thousand euros a day, but you typically will not find them on this forum.

There actually are some people here who do not delight in telling everyone how much they paid for a room.

Lucerne:
The most luxury resort at Burgenstock is unfortunately closed for renovation.

But you may try the second luxury solution:
Park Hotel Vitznau; residences about 4000 USD/night, suites about 2000 USD/night, breakfast included.
Taxi boat to Lucerne available (as well as road taxis).

Or check Hotel Hermitage at Lucerne: Lake and mountain suite for 600 USD (with breakfast) resp for 900 USD (breakfast and 4 course candle light dinner with wine).

In Lucerne, I've stayed at the Palace, the Grand National and the Schweizerhof. Of the three, I slightly prefer the Grand National, although if choosing today, I'd lean toward the Schweizerhof.

The Schweizerhof recently underwent a thorough renovation, which was needed because it had gotten "tired". It's a very comfortable hotel with excellent service. Some might find it a bit corporate -- many high-level business travelers stay there for meetings either onsite or at an off-site conference center. The Schweizerhof is the closest to the train station and if traveling light, you could easily walk there. But also be careful if you're planning to stay in Lucerne during a big festival -- they can get quite loud and if you have a lakeview room, you may not be able to get away from the noise completely.

The Grand National is lovely in an old-world way if you get a lakeside room or suite. On my last stay, I had a lakeside junior suite which was large and beautifully furnished. However, a few of the smaller rooms on the street side can get noise from a nearby club. Also, the pool area is far from the best hotel pool I've ever encountered and you need to check to make sure that it isn't closed for cleaning (happened to me on one stay). Much as I like this hotel, it could use a refresh.

The Palace is farther down the lake. To be honest, I had a very nice stay there, but it doesn't stand out to me.

I should note that all three hotels do get their share of business travellers (which is how I came to stay in them, someone else picked up the tab).

Re the Burgenstock, I stayed there just before it closed for reservation. The renovation was badly needed. Although it was considered a luxury hotel, it didn't have air conditioning. I left my windows open at night and the room was full of mosquitoes as a result. Ugh. Beautiful grounds though. It's not in Lucerne proper, so you'll need to travel by ship or taxi to take in the city sights unless you have a car.

Re the Vitznau, I checked its rates for a variety of dates in 2016 and found some rates about 50% less than what was posted above. If this property interests you and you're travelling off-season, you might find a lakeside junior suite closer to 1000 per night.

We are going to Lucerne and Lake Como in September and I researched hotels extensively. While I was leaning towards Des Balances, most negative reviews are due their lack of air conditioning. Since we needed AC during the same period last year in France, I kept looking and finally decided on the Schweizerhof. In addition to being the #1 rated hotel on TripAdvisor, it has air conditioning and coffee in the room. If you prepay in full, their nonrefundable rate is an excellent deal. Junior Suite lake view room normally is 690 chf/night, we paid 460. This was substantially less than The Palace and other 5 star hotel rates. It will be at the tail end of the annual Music Festival, so we'll see how busy it is.

In Lake Como, I was torn between Villa Serbollini and Grand Hotel Tremezzo. Decided on Tremezzo based on its high amount of excellent reviews, the views and easy back and forth on ferries to other towns. Fingers crossed I've made the right decisions.

There are quite a few people on Fodors who stay in luxury hotels and spend a lot of money on them, I see their posts on here, not to mention all the posts about blowing hundreds and thousands on luxury purchases. So I don't agree that most of the people on Fodors have no idea what luxury hotels are. In fact, people who travel a lot and read a lot of articles, etc., probably can anser that question for certain cities they frequent even when they don't stay in them. I know the luxury hotels in Paris but have never stayed in one. And I think the OP knows what the best hotel in a city might costs and clearly said doesn't matter.

The no. 1 hotel in Tripadvisor has nothing to do with being the top luxury hotel and having coffee in your room is something even very budget hotels do when they don't want to staff a breakfast room or don't have room for it, and AC isn't only in luxury hotels, either. I stayed in a very nice 4* hotel in Lucerne and really liked it but I would never call it luxurious. It had AC.

The top hotels in Lucerne are the Grand Hotel National, the Schweizerhof, the Hotel Luzern and the Palace. I think for wanting the top hotel, you'd definitely want one on the lake with a lake view. I wouldn't count the Hotel Luzern as the most luxurious myself but I don't like its decor, and it's not on the lake, so that's a bias, I don't like the Grand Hotel National's decor either, nor the Schweizerhof, the Grand hotel very old-fashioned but not in a good way. I think the Palace would be the top hotel.

But I think it would be easy to narrow that down just by a guidebook, in fact, or a luxury travel agent. Those are the top rated hotels, preference for decor is personal and can be decided just by looking at their websites.

My absolute favourite hotel in Luzern is the Montana!

The Montana is high on a hill overlooking Lake Luzern; it is directly across the road from The Palace.

There is a funicular you can take up to the hotel lobby if you are walking along the promenade of Lake Luzern. Otherwise, you would most likely take a taxi to the front door of the hotel.

If you stay at the Schweitzerhof, you are closer to luxury shopping at Hermes, Bucherer, and Cartier.

Thin

We liked the Montana very much as well. It is not 5*, more like 4*, is traditional and very Swiss and access is fairly easy versus the funicular.

But the OP did ask for luxury - and I would consider this more a high degree of comfort but not obvious luxury.