I was originally booked for the Hotel Alpina, but upon arriving, there was a note on the door telling me to go to the Hotel Monopol to check in. When I got there, I was informed by the staff that I was being "upgraded" to the Hotel Monopol with no further explanation. I was excited because I thought our room would be a lot better than the Alpina because from the outside, the Hotel Monopol looks amazing! As a single traveler, I was given a room with one single bed and a sofa. The bed looked and felt more like a cot with the pillow being about an inch thin and the blanket being really small. The best part of the room was the bathroom. The bathtub was amazing and the water pressure was great! It made for an amazing hot shower, especially after being outside in the cold and rainy weather.

Unfortunately, I felt like I was staying in a private room of a hostel. This is more because of the bed situation. The room wasn't bad, it just felt like someone through a cot in there. The TV was great. There were only about 5 English channels, but honestly I wasn't in the room much other than to sleep, so this didn't really bother me.

The breakfast buffett that was included definitely left much to be desired. I've seen better at other European hotels that claim to be 4 star.

One thing I will give this 5 stars on, is the location. It literally is right across from the train station, which is perfect and within walking distance of anywhere in Lucerne that you want to go. There is also a starbucks inside the building. Just keep in mind that everything in Lucerne is about double what you pay in the states, even if the CHF is about the same as the USD. A white mocha at Starbucks was about 8 CHF whereas in the states is about $5 USD for a grande. Burger King was another story. A whopper value meal was about 14 CHF and that was for the medium size. You don't get refills on your drinks and each condiment is .30 CHF a piece. Plus they only give you one napkin. Not to go off course, but just to give a little bit of advice on how much money to bring for meals. Also, attached to the hotel is a restaurant called NY Food. The pizza is absolutely amazing!!! I would highly recommend that.

One last note, you can get free wifi in the lobby by connecting to the Starbucks. If you want it in your room, you have to pay. I was in room 521, which didn't really have a view of anything except buildings.

Not sure if I would go back to Lucerne, but if I did, I'm not sure if this is where I would stay. Depends on the price, since the location is perfect. Not sure I can handle the bed again.

As I was staying 5 nights in Luzern in late October as a centre for rail travel throughout Switzerland, I needed a comfortable hotel near the railway station. The Monopol fitted this requirement perfectly; the room was spacious, comfortable and very clean and the breakfast gave plenty of choice, with effecient and friendly staff.

We were undecided whether to give this hotel 3 or 4 stars. The location is great, and our triple room was large and clean. But the rooms have a very dated feel, with sombre decor. Also, the windows are not very soundproof, so it is quite noisy at night. The greatest shame of this hotel is that they have no lobby to speak of. It feels like entering a food court. The staff are friendly, and the breakfast was fine (but nothing special). We enjoyed our stay, but in terms of value for money, one could probably do better.

I had read the reviews prior to booking, and hesitated to book, but I wanted something really close to the train station and this hotel fit the bill. The check in staff was very welcoming and everything went well with my check-in. We had a quiet room on the 6th floor, but our view was an interior view of the rooms on the other side of the hotel. It was a little loud from the rooftop lounge, but not too bad.

The room and bathroom were very generous in size. However, the decor is very dated. The room could definitely use some updating. There is a flat screen T.V. and a few English speaking stations. The bed was comfortable and the toiletries were adequate. There is a hair dryer, but you had to hold down the power button the whole time you used it which was annoying.

The breakfast was very average and if it wasn't included I wouldn't pay for it. There is no free wi-fi, but there is a Starbucks on the main floor and it was easy to access the internet from there.

The location was excellent. We were able to walk all over Lucerne and catch our excursion at the Travel Bureau at the train station. Staying here enable us to avoid taxi charges to/from the train station as it was right across the street.