Altstadt Hotel Magic Luzern

The Altstadt Hotel Magic Luzern is on the Kornmarkt, in the old centre of Lucerne, inside the pedestrian zone. The house's website presents it as the city's most imaginative hotel, on the medieval square, and writes that the station and the KKL are five minutes' walk away, while Zurich airport is around sixty-five kilometres off and Basel and Bern a hundred and ten. Booking places it on the quiet Kornmarkt square, in the heart of the old town's shopping area, and credits it with a view of the town hall and the river Reuss. The position scored 9.2 in the ratings across nine hundred and seventy-nine reviews, and couples gave it 9.1.

The rule on age is a ban without a figure. In its Child policies block Booking writes that children are not allowed and adds that cots and extra beds are not available at the property. The house's website does not speak of children and publishes no age, and the number that can be read on Booking, the twenty-five years of the minimum check-in age, is a booking condition: it serves to put the room in someone's name, it does not say from what age you get in. The property, that is, does not publish the age.

The rooms are the reason the house is called what it is. The website writes that none is like any other: each is furnished in its own right, inspired by cultures, stories and styles from all over the world, from an oriental atmosphere to baroque opulence to rustic simplicity, and many look onto the Reuss or the alleys of the old town. In every room there are a private bathroom, a minibar, a Delizio coffee machine, a television with radio, a safe and free WiFi. On Booking the rooms carry a name, from the Angel of twenty-eight square metres to the Contadino of twenty-one, all with a city view, an en-suite bathroom, a flat-screen TV, a coffee machine and a minibar.

The suites add a private whirlpool: the website names the Lionheart Suite with its canopy bed, the Barock Suite and the King Suite, and in the bathroom a shower or a tub. The Honeymoon Suite is made up of three double rooms and has a balcony facing the Reuss, the Chapel Bridge and the Pilatus, plus the whirlpool, the bathtub and a separate shower.

The buffet breakfast is taken in the twin hotel, the Krone, a few steps away: the website lists fresh bread, regional specialities, cheese, cold cuts, coffee and a glass of prosecco, and writes that breakfast is added to the room as an option. At the Krone, in Weinmarkt, check-in and guest service are handled too: Booking specifies that reception is around a hundred and thirty metres from the hotel. On arrival the house hands over the Lucerne Gästekarte, which includes free public transport and reductions on museums, lifts and destinations in the region. Booking also notes the laundry service.

The hotel is in a pedestrian zone but guests may drive up to it to load and unload, and there is a paid park-and-return service, as well as a public car park nearby. Two things to know before booking, which Booking writes plainly: the property is not accessible to guests with disabilities or to wheelchair users, because there is no lift from the ground floor; and cash is not accepted, payment is by card.

Arrival is from 15 to 23 and departure from 6.30 to 11; check-in requires a photo ID and a credit card. Pets are not allowed and there is no smoking. The hotel carries the licence number KZV-SLU-000009.