The Hotel Monopol

We got up at 5am and set off for the airport in plenty of time for booking in and having a leisurely breakfast in one of the cafes. Unfortunately this was not to be, when we arrived at the Swissair check in desk we were told that the plane was already fully subscribed. After a lot of faffing around we were put onto a Lufthansa flight via Frankfurt, which meant a change of plane and going through security for a second time. I shall go into more detail about Swissair’s policies that lead to the plane being fully booked in a separate post.

All this messing around meant there was no time for breakfast.  I just managed to grab a fruit pot and some fruit juice before going to the boarding gate. A croissant and a thimble of water was provided on the first plane, but nothing at all was provided on the second plane. I had to wait until we reached Zurich (just after lunch time) in order to get something substantial to eat. I sat eating this next to the train station, before catching the train to Lucerne.

The hotel was situated next to the train station, the room was fantastic and it looked out over the lake. It was also a very good room for people watching as they rushed too and from the train station. After unpacking and freshening up we strolled out for dinner, which was eaten looking out over the historic bridge. We then took a leisurely stroll back towards the hotel. This involved walking over the historic bridge and a lot of photo opportunities. We had a quick drink in a bar next to the hotel before retiring to get some well earned sleep.

12 Comments CherryPie on Jul 29th 2013

12 Responses to “Lucerne – Day One”

  1. Ginnie says:

    So WHEN exactly did all this happen, Cherry???? It sounds likie a real story! :)

  2. ....peter:) says:

    The joys of flying Cherie… been there! … done that!… i can sympathize with you… but this is a wonderful image of the Monopoly building at night….peter:)

    • CherryPie says:

      I always thought that the expensive airlines look after you better. It seems I was wrong I think I will go with FlyBe or EasyJet in future. I have never been turned away from one of their flights.

  3. Steve Hayes says:

    I heard that the historic bridge burnt down and had to be rebuilt. It’s 45 years since I visited there, but I still have a traffic ticket for parking on the pavement. I had similar experiences with planes going to Switzerland once, glad you got there!

    • CherryPie says:

      Yes the bridge about two thirds of the bridge were severely damaged by fire in the 90s. The bridge was quickly reconstructed along with some of the paintings that had been damaged.

      The bridge is still beautiful and measures are in place to stop the same thing happening again.

  4. JD says:

    I’ve never flown Swissair so can’t comment on their service (or lack of) and I’ve never flown ‘budget’ airlines so I have no idea if the various tales about them are true or not.
    All I can offer is that in nearly 40 years I have never been turned away because of overbooking (and, Cherie, you already know how many planes I have been on :) ) so you have been unfortunate this time.
    Some airlines are good and some are bad. It takes time and a few flights to learn which ones to avoid – not that it’s much consolation for you in this case.

    • CherryPie says:

      I wouldn’t fly Ryanair because I don’t like the company ethos. All the other cheaper airlines I have used have all been good with good service. You can’t necessarily choose your seats before you board and if you want food you have to buy it or take it on-board with you. I have no complaints about any of them.

      I don’t have the option of flying BA anymore because they only fly out of London, so that means a long drive or a change of plane at London and going through security twice (which is a pain).

      I will go into more detail about the Swissair policy in separate blog post but basically their policy is overbook their flights by up to 10%.

  5. I wanted to visit this place two years ago. ;)

  6. james higham says:

    Oh yes please.