Barabas Luzern

The staff went above and beyond during my stay there. I was able to get a lot of info from them about the alps (whether they were opened, closed, a good time to go, etc.) and they were really helpful and knowledgeable. Since it was too windy and snowy up on Mt Pilatus and Titlis, they gave me another recommendation: Mt Rigi. It wasn't on my radar, but I had a great time there. When I needed a new fan to replace the broken one in my room or wanted to join the breakfast buffet last minute, they were quick to help me arrange everything that I needed. When I had an issue with my room, they also gave me a small compensation for the trouble I went through. The location is also great; within walking distance to a bunch of restaurants, shops, and the main train station in Lucerne. I also liked how the building was steeped in history (former prison and all that). I got a room with two twin beds and a private bathroom. It was really narrow that there was barely any space to open my suitcase. It's no frills inside, which meant there wasn't much space for you to leave any of your belongings. A table here and there would be incredibly helpful! There's a small fan in each room, which was helpful, but because of how small the room was, it didn't help with the stuffiness. And even though there was a window, it was really high up and I don't think it actually opened. I understand Switzerland doesn't typically have air conditioners in the hotel rooms, but making it easy to open the windows and adding mesh screens to prevent bugs from going in would probably help with the humid stuffiness! On my second night, I found little bugs all over my bed. They weren't bed bugs for sure. I don't know what they were but I just slept on the other twin bed with my husband. The sheets and everything looked clean in general, so it's not like this hotel is dirty, per se. His bed only had one (thankfully). In the morning, we told the staff and they gave us a small compensation for the inconvenience. We were already checking out that same morning so we didn't need to change rooms or anything. The bugs might be due to the climate in the room, but I don't know. Anyway, all that to say that the living situation wasn't comfortable. Also, there are no hair dryers; you need to ask for it from the front desk and leave a deposit.

Good location, fantastic service, simple and straightforward room. Staff was warm and welcoming, addressed our needs promptly. Prison theme was very fun too Found a bedbug on the wall, it was difficult to control the temperature of the shower water, small room with little space to open luggage. No hot water available, only a kettle on the ground floor, so slightly inconvenient. Worst thing was, someone entered our room in the middle of the night, when my partner got up to chase the person he left, tried to contact the staff but unable to as we cant call overseas numbers. In the morning, staff told us that it was their night staff and apologised sincerely. But it affected our sleep, unable to sleep well afterwards as unsure if it was thief or bad person. Luckily only staff, but should still have knocked and asked before entering or explained himself instead of leaving straight away. Staff gave us partial refund too which I am thankful for.

Someone entered our room in THE MIDDLE OF THE NIGHT with a keycard while we were asleep. Thankfully I have sharp ears and heard someone opening the door. When I tried to chase him, he quickly said excuse me and ran off. Tried calling the reception but since it was 2am no one was there to help us. Worst part is you cannot lock the door from the inside. We couldn't sleep the whole night as a result. This is a serious breach of security, and is extremely traumatizing. There are bed bugs too Editing this review in response to the owner's reply. Everything below is added to our original review above: Giving them 2 instead of originally 1 star. When we told them about how someone came into our room the previous night, the staff was very empathetic and sincerely apologized. They explained that it was their night shift staff who came to check on the alarms and it was not an outsider. They also offered a complimentary breakfast, but we politely rejected as we were in a hurry and asked for a PARTIAL refund which they gave in the end. Granted, the hotel staff are very hospitable and please note that this review was posted in the middle of the night, shortly after the then "stranger" entered our room and our futile attempts to contact the night shift hotline. It is natural for us to chase after a supposed intruder. And he did not apologize, he said "excuse me". If it is a hotel staff, a more appropriate behavior would be to apologize and explain to us on the spot why he entered our room in the middle of the night. We were asleep when your staff entered our room, so we could not see his face, uniform nor if he is wearing a badge. Note that, this was only clarified the next morning, so we spent the whole night anxious. Nevertheless, we apologize for not updating the review after the compensation. It is not entirely right to say that I made false claims. These were our initial, honest experiences until the next morning. Even so, outsider or staff, NO ONE should be able to enter a guest room, for whatever reasons. Hence, regretfully, even though the reception staff are very friendly, because of this experience, we have to give this rating. I thus updated this review to be fair. The bed bugs are not a false claim. The photo of the bed bug was taken in the hotel room. We did not raise this up in the morning because the intruder incident took precedence and as mentioned, we were in a hurry. We could have raised it up and demand a bigger compensation, but we didn't and only asked for a partial refund. Given these chain of events and that our whole night's rest was disrupted, a partial refund was more than reasonable. So, please do not accuse us of making false claims. If the management thinks anything else I have mentioned here is unfair or inaccurate, let me know and I will be happy to change it.