Bürgenstock hotels & resort — Experience the beautiful Swiss nature at the luxury Burgenstock Resort of Lucerne

Switzerland is one of the wealthiest countries in Europe, but it is also the most costly. When I travel to Switzerland, I usually make a point of not experiencing high-end services because even everyday products are significantly more expensive than in other European nations. But, as someone who is enthusiastic about luxury hotels, resorts, and nature in Europe, the splendor of the Swiss countryside cannot not but rub off on me. So, on my trip to Lucerne, I chose to stay in a high-end resort to relax and see the city. That’s Bürgenstock Hotels & Resort – Bürgenstock Hotel & Alpine Spa (Burgenstock Hotel & Alpine Spa, Burgenstock Hotel and alpine spa, Burgenstock Hotels & Resort, Bürgenstock Hotels & Resort, Bürgenstock Resort, Burgenstock Hotel Lucerne).

Read more: How to travel to Switzerland on a budget?

If you have learnt about Lucerne you will find that Lucerne is a large city stretching out with many hills, moutains, rivers and lakes. Lake Lucerne is quite large, surrounded by plains – Lucerne City itself, and mountainous areas. The most upscale hotels in Lucerne are often located on the lakeside or in the high mountains.

 

Burgenstock Hotel Lucerne: Overview of Burgenstock Hotels & Resort (Bürgenstock Hotels & Resort, Burgenstock Resort)

Burgenstock Hotel Lucerne (Burgenstock hotels) (Agoda.com or Booking.com) is actually a resort complex of many different hotels, and perhaps this is the largest resort in Lucerne. Hotels located in it include: Burgenstock Hotel (5 stars), Waldhotel (5 stars), Palace Hotel (4 stars) and Taverne 1879 (3 stars) (Agoda.com or Booking.com).

I booked a room in hotel Taverne 1879, although not as luxurious as the remain other 5-star hotels, the boutique-style was quite good, especially the price is much better. The room rates in Taverne 1879 is only about EUR300/night, while in Burgenstock Hotel up to EUR700-1000/night.

All these hotels form the Burgenstock resort (Agoda.com or Booking.com). Burgenstock hotels & resort is located in an isolated area on a high hill in Lucerne. One side is Lake Lucerne and the other is a lush valley, with both forests and houses. Overall, the hotels in this resort are all City Hotel types, quite interesting, although they are called resorts, but inside are all City Hotel.

How to get to Burgentstock and experience a free boat ride on the Lucerne River

There are 2 ways to get to Burgenstock, one is by road and the other is by waterway. For people living in Lucerne or the surrounding areas, they can come here by road because there is a road run through the valley and up the hill. For tourists, mostly traveling by boat, is also the opportunity to experience a boat cruise on the Lucerne River.

After booking online, I received a confirmation email, but unfortunately I don’t receive an immediate travel instructions. I have to send an another email them and get a reply on how to get here. According to their guide, I just go to the pier in Lucerne city, check the boat schedule and get on boat.

The river boat is quite large, including both scenic passengers and the resort’s guests. For guests of the resort, you do not have to buy tickets, just get on the boat and when the staff on the boat checks your ticket, you simply to give out your hotel booking. That is a double decker boat, with a separate cabin for guests staying at the resort. Very nice, comfortable and spacious.

Don’t miss the chance to enjoy sightseeing like on a cruise on Lake Lucerne. Extremely fresh air blends with the beautiful scenery around the lake. You can easily admire the Swiss mountain nature, with many beautiful hotels along the way.

The boat takes about 20 minutes to reach the resort. The pier is located at the foot of the mountain and to reach the top of the hill, you will need to take a climbing tram. This train is very similar to the train to Penang Hill in Penang, similar to the train at Intercontinental Danang Resort but the distance is much longer. From the train you can see the beautiful panorama of Lake Lucerne.

Check-in procedure at Burgenstock Resort

The tram took us to the top of the hill to reach the resort. Here, neither not many direction signs, nor staff, but also for the first time I coming here, so it was quite a surprise. I pulled the luggage deep inside then I met a check-in counter here. But when I asked the staff, I found out that this is for Burgenstock Hotel, not Taverne 1879 that I booked. He showed me to walk to the Hotel Taverne 1879, about 300m away by foot.

The first surprise thing when I coming here, this is a large resort but without any buggy car to take guests around. It seems that here people walk all by themselves, also a bit hard because the spots are quite far from each other, moreover the resort is located on the mountain so the way of travel is quite steep.

The hotels here operate completely independently of each other. Which hotel guests stay, that hotel is responsible, absolutely not care the others – another point of disappointment. We had to pull our own suitcases a long way to go to Waldhotel’s lobby to check in. The check-in hall was quite nice, however, that time was noon, there was only one staff working.

In my opinion, this staff is not very sympathetic. He gave me the key, said to take the elevator to the top floor to check in. We continued to walk by ourselves with no one to guide us. Arriving at the top floor, we did not know the way to going continue, there was no staff there to ask. Finally a long time later I saw a buggy driver passing by (perhaps this is the only one bugby at the resort). This man took our luggage and led me to the hotel Taverne 1879. Breathe a sigh of relief and really too disappointed with the first impression at the resort, the service was too bad.

Experience the Hotel Taverne 1879

This is the smallest hotel in the complex of Burgenstock resort, it is designed in the small and beautiful ancient architecture style. Taverne 1879 has only 3 floors, our room located on the 3rd floor and has quite open windows. Want access the room, you often have to go through a single restaurant in Taverne 1879, quite inconvenient.

The room is a bit small, about 20m2, but quite beautiful and elegant. The main material in the room is wood, close to nature, cozy. The room is also full of amenities and facilities equivalent to a 4-star hotel.

Overall, if you only want to explore this resort like I did, staying in Taverne 1879 is plenty. The room costs are reasonable, and the rooms are pleasant and well-equipped. The view from the window of the resort campus is pleasant, since it is cool and airy.

A letter of greeting from the resort management. At the very least, they have a welcome letter that corresponds to the name of a 5-star resort.

Hotel facilities and Burgenstock Resort campus

The first thing to mention is that the resort is enormous. With four huge hotels and a large forest for tourists to wander through and trek through, as well as a large valley just next door. One side of the resort has a 180-degree view of Lake Lucerne and is bordered by woods and beautiful valleys.

Some features of the Burgenstock resort.

Hotels in the Burgenstock resort

Looking on the map, you can be seen that the resort has 4 hotels, which are 4 city hotels located close together. The most luxurious is the 5-star Burgenstock Hotel, a spa area and a super beautiful infinity pool located in this hotel. Followed by Waldhotel (5 stars), Palace Hotel (4 stars)and Taverne 1879 (3 stars).

All 3 hotels Burgentstock, Waldhotel and Palace have 2 sides view, one side overlooking the lake and the other side overlooking the Alpine valley. Particularly, the smallest Taverne 1879 hotel located on the campus, there will be no lake view, only a valley view. The level of luxury and comfort levels of all rooms in hotels also depend on the luxury of that hotel.

To gain entry to the resort, you do not need to book a stay here. You may just purchase a boat ticket, travel here to visit, and then return the same day. Of course, you won’t be able to completely appreciate the resort’s uniqueness and elegance.

The campus of Burgenstock resort

After booking a room in one of the four hotels, you will have access to virtually all of the resort’s inner campuses. Each one features a balcony with a view of Lake Lucerne, as well as a restaurant and a bar.

Many luxury watch stores, faithful to Swiss quality, are located on the resort’s grounds. I counted four luxury shops specializing in watches, with all the premium brands in this nation, from Omega, Rolex, to Logines, Cartier, and so on. The only problem is that there isn’t enough money to bring back.

The campus of the resort has a dreamy ambiance, with lake and mountains in the background. You may spend the entire day sitting on the hotel’s balcony, sipping a cup of coffee and reading a book, taking in the rare pure air.

In addition, the resort also has a very large souvenir shop, similar to a convenience store providing goods for guests at the resort.

Breathtaking view over Lake Lucerne

The resort is, of course, situated on a high mountain with a panoramic view of Lake Lucerne. The city of Lucerne, as well as several hilly locations of Switzerland, may be seen in the distance from here. There are several places to stand and gaze out over the lake.

 

 

View of the Alpine valley from the resort

Another wonderful discovery I made was that there is a gorgeous valley just on the side of the resort. This valley is surrounded by greenery, primarily soft grass and occasional woods. Small roads go through the center, punctuated by few tiled-roof buildings. The same as the tiny cottages on the steppe.

Spa area with super beautiful infinity pool

A very special feature in Burgenstock resort, which is the Spa area and an outdoor swimming pool with panoramic view of Lake Lucerne. If you have ever heard of the Hotel Villa Honegg and ever saw its infinity pool, you definitely won’t want miss the same thing in Burgenstock.

This Alpine spa is located inside the Burgenstock Hotel. You can visit freely but to enter this spa area you will have meet a few small conditions: Or you have booked at one of the hotels of Burgenstock Resort: Burgenstock Hotel, Waldhotel (room class includes spa), or you will have to pay an entrance fee of CHF100. The other thing is this beautiful swimming pool is inside this Alpine Spa area.

It is a pity that when booking, I did not notice this detail, I think I can access after having booked any hotel here. So when I knew I had to pay 100CHF for the entrance fee, I stopped: (((. The spectacular swimming pool overlooking Lake Lucerne and a mountainous area. There is also a jacuzzi in the middle of the pool. Note that you should come at the time with few people to have beautiful photos as below.

Dining experience at Burgenstock resort

Although I stay in Taverne 1879, but our breakfast buffet was served at Waldhotel, where we do check-in procedure. The restaurant is located on the 8th floor, spacious and overlooking the Alpine valley.

 

In general, the food is quite delicious, full of nutritions and necessary food for a breakfast that require a lot of energy. Breads, vegetables and deli meats, hot dogs, butter, milk…all are served. Breakfast is probably the point I appreciate the most about the service of the resort, friendly staff and quite “initiative” to serve diners. Tea served at the table is quite polite.

Activities you can consider while staying at the Burgenstock resort

If you are a person who likes to explore, going in the main style of adventure, you will immediately dismiss the intention of staying at the resort when coming to a land like Lucerne in particular and Europe in general. But really, sometimes only stay at the resort you just find things that you have never experienced before. Burgenstock resort is a very large resort and you will never have to worry about being bored here:

• Visiting the resort’s campus: As mentioned above, there are quite a few activities you can consider. In the afternoon, after finishing the gym, you can go to the spa and swimming in the pool. In addition, the valley area is very beautiful for sightseeing and exploring.
• Hiking: The resort is a great place to start an exciting hiking trek on Burgenstock Mountain. The scenery here is breathtaking, and you can also explore the hundreds-year-old Hammetschwand Lift, easily access by foot from the resort.
• Cruise the Lucerne River: If you are bored when spend the whole day at the resort, you can take a tram trip down the mountain and take a boat on the Lucerne River. There are plenty of docks and trips for you to explore the surrounding area, including a visit to the beautiful city of Lucerne.
• Enjoy your time at the resort: Sometimes you don’t need to go far, just lie down on the balcony, sip a cup of tea / coffee and read a small book, one day passes in peace and beautiful surroundings, that’s enough.

 

Conclusion

Although I do not like the quality of the service at the hotel Taverne 1879, but I still have to say, Burgenstock resort is a really, very worthwhile resort. For those with abundant financial resources, do not hesitate to book at the Burgenstock Hotel, which is the most beautiful and luxurious hotel in this resort, fully enjoying nature in Switzerland and Lucerne.

Staying at Burgenstock Hotel, you will be checked-in right at the area where the tram takes to the top of the mountain, better rooms, better view and especially a free access the spa area with a super beautiful outdoor swimming pool. It is impossible not to mention the Lucerne lake view and the Alpine valley, which are enchanted by people, so beautiful and wonderful.