Bürgenstock Hotel & Alpine Spa

The Bürgenstock is a whole estate rather than a single hotel: more than sixty hectares along a ridge roughly 500 metres above Lake Lucerne, reached by boat and funicular or by road, with several hotels, residences, restaurants and sports facilities spread across it. It has been a resort since the 1870s and reopened after a very long and very expensive reconstruction, with the flagship Bürgenstock Hotel & Alpine Spa split between a contemporary wing and a restored heritage building.

The Alpine Spa is the headline. It runs across multiple floors with an infinity pool that appears to spill off the cliff edge towards the lake, thermal and sauna suites, treatment rooms and a large fitness area, and it is the image that sells the place. Rooms are generously proportioned and modern, with the lake-facing categories worth the premium by a wide margin.

Beyond the spa there are numerous restaurants and bars across the estate, tennis under geodesic domes, an alpine golf course, and the Hammetschwand lift, an exterior elevator built into the cliff in 1905 that remains the highest of its kind in Europe and delivers a startling walk along the Felsenweg path. Lucerne is around half an hour away by boat, which is by some distance the best way to arrive. The resort operates year-round.