Hôtel du Grand Lac Excelsior

The hotel on the outside is very grand and right in the lake. We had beautiful views from our balcony plus you just walk out the back and you are on a wonderful path into town. The room was big, made especially so due to the very high ceilings. The bathroom was also big with double vanities and a separate water closet. The decor was very tired…it felt like it had been a very grand hotel in the past. We took the stairs to breakfast and were surprised to learn that the hotel is also a med spa…the floor below us was like a hospital with people in white uniforms running around…kind of surreal. The breakfast was ok and only had plain coffee…I love the European breakfast bars with the fancy coffee machines so I can have a morning latte. We were here for one night of a tour of Switzerland and it was fine…the location and view were the biggest pluses!

Grand old hotel with a convenient lakeside position right on the promenade and a short walk to Montreux centre. We had a junior suite which was ideal for 3 adults although the shower room was very small compared to the size of the room. The junior suite was a good size with a small patio / terrace area overlooking the lake. Breakfast was ok - nice view but slightly lacking in variety e.g. fresh fruit. |Parking was available on the street outside the hotel - having arranged parking (10 CHF) for the Friday of our stay we were annoyed that the hotel failed to inform us of parking restrictions on the Saturday morning resulting in a 40 CHF parking fine - the hotel should have known about this and advised us to park elsewhere.|Otherwise a comfortable stay.

Wonderful view, clean room and soft linens. We stayed in the “off season” so the hotel was not full. We only saw other guests at breakfast. The pass to use local transportation was key! Although it took us several trys to understand how to cross train tracks to get to the correct bus stop. We could see where we wanted to go but not sure how to get there. The front desk staff was wonderful. Speaking English and some German we had difficulty understanding directions within the hotel. It took us 20 minutes to get to the correct elevator/hall that allowed us to swim in the large lovely pool.

The bedroom and bathroom were both large and spacious . The bed was quite comfortable and extra pillow’s were provided upon request . The view from the little balcony was absolutely beautiful and I’m glad we booked a lake view - well worth it. The staff were very friendly and helpful - they gave us discount cards for travel and attractions. The hotel and room were “ tired “ but I have to say it was very clean . Also there are no tea / coffee facilities in the room . The hotel bar was closed by 8.30 ish when we came back from our meal and we were unable to get a drink from anywhere as there was no room service either. ( not sure if this because it’s not high season or it was Sunday ?). We were given a disc to park in the road near the hotel but it was very busy so we had to wait a while. As it was Sunday it was ok but on other days apparently you need to keep moving the car every 3 hours as that is the time limit with the disc ! We really liked aspects of the hotel but the parking and lack of facilities were not great.

Lovely grand hotel. Charming comfy room with balcony and amazing views. Comfy bed ensuring two good nights sleep during our stay. Excellent breakfast and we enjoyed an evening meal in the restaurant.|Swimming pool was quiet and we enjoyed our swims and lounging by the pool.|What would have been nice was tea and coffee making facilities in the room.

The first room smelled quite badly and was not clean. The headboard was stained. The hallway carpets were stained and appeared to never have been cleaned. Our room had stained and damaged carpet. The shower was tiny with a curtain that clung to our legs. This is a 2 star hotel at best.

We visited as part of a mini tour of Italy, Switzerland, Liechtenstein and France so we had a lot to compare this hotel to. We booked a junior suite for 3 adults for 2 nights. The first thing to say is that the staff were all very helpful and polite throughout, but unfortunately that is where the good news ends. Our room was on level -3 which I believe is the case for all junior suites as they have a terrce and access to the lake side walk. ||The corridor is looking extremely tired with faded and stained carpets and a large pebble keeping a fire door open - an interesting approach to health and safety. The corridor smelled damp, but the smell got worse when we opened the door to our room. The room smelled of horses, particularly unpleasant. The room had clearly not been deocrated for some considerable time, the furniture was of poor, flimsy quality and the bathrooms were inadequate (shower screen too small, toilet too close to the basin meaning that one has to be careful where to place one's jaw in order to avoid fouling the basin). ||The interior decor and standard of accommodation is simply not in-keeping with the exterior of this grand old building - it is as though it is simply being neglected which is s real shame. It could be a beatiful hotel, but unfortunately it isn't. This is quite plainly not a four star hotel as advertised and I suspect that there are many more suitable hotels in Montreux. ||We asked to change rooms, but were told there was only one other room available - another junior suite - which it turns out suffered the same problems as our room. We therefore requested a refund (having been asked to pay in full on arrival) which the duty manager arranged without any disagreement. We were grateful for this as it meant we could escape this hell hole after only one night. ||We do feel sorry for the staff that work there, as I am sure that they have to soak up a lot of criticism for this ageing and inadequate hotel.||Don't be fooled by the photos of this hotel on the website - the photos are small for a reason. It makes it difficult to see what you are really getting, but trust me, it isn't great. If you are one of the people attending the Montreux Jazz Festival who thought you had "lucked-in" finding great accommodation here - I'm afraid you haven't - stay in Lausanne or Geneva and travel in.

There are pluses and minuses to this hotel, but all in all, we loved it! Think of it as old world charm or that you’re staying in an historic chateau. The hallways are huge, ceilings high, and bedrooms and bathrooms large. There is great AC, double sinks in bathroom, gorgeous lake view from charming balcony, and very friendly staff who speak English. But it is tired and worn. The carpet could use cleaning, and the balcony furniture could be painted. We slept great in a dark, cold and completely quiet room with comfy bed and individual duvets on a king bed.

Awful service (especially reception staff Ms Smith), poor condition including filthy carpets in common areas multiple gouges out of tile in bathroom, torn wallpaper in toilet room, dirty and too small shower curtain. They did not tell us of daytime noise and construction on the property let alone apologize. Pool was closed for private events on 2 days. They failed to respond to email. Their policies on Expedia differed from their actual policies. We let them know but they showed no interest in contacting expedia. They provided wrong phone numbers 3 times. We requested to be put in touch with manager or owner but were not. Awful service (en particulier le personnel de la réception Mme Smith), mauvais état, y compris les tapis sales dans les espaces communs multiples gouges sur carrelage dans salle de bain, papier peint déchiré dans la salle de toilette, sale et trop petit rideau de douche. Ils ne nous disent de bruit diurne et la construction sur la propriété et encore moins excuser. La piscine était fermée pour des événements privés sur 2 jours. Ils ont échoué à répondre à l'email. Leurs politiques sur Expedia différaient de leurs politiques réelles. Nous leur faisons savoir mais ils montré aucun intérêt à communiquer avec Expédia. Ils ont fourni des numéros de téléphone erronés 3 fois. Nous avons demandé à être mis en contact avec le gestionnaire ou le propriétaire, mais n'étions pas. Schrecklicher Service (vor allem Personal an der Rezeption Frau Smith), einem schlechten Zustand einschließlich schmutzige Teppiche in öffentlichen Bereichen mehrere Riefen aus Fliesen in Bad, zerrissene Tapeten in Toilettenraum , schmutzig und zu klein Duschvorhang. Sie haben uns nicht tagsüber Lärm und den Bau auf dem Grundstück geschweige denn entschuldigen. Pool wurde an 2 Tagen für private Veranstaltungen geschlossen. Es gelang ihnen nicht auf E-Mails zu reagieren. Ihre Politik auf Expedia unterschied sich von ihrer tatsächlichen Politik. Wir lassen sie wissen, aber sie zeigte kein Interesse expedia in Kontakt gebracht wird. Sie lieferten falsche Telefonnummern 3 mal. Wir baten mit Manager oder Eigentümer in Kontakt gebracht werden, waren aber nicht.

Beautiful views, service was good. Parking is an issue. They have 8 spots so if it's busy you'll be parking on the street and having to worry about moving your car every three hours. Aside from that, the breakfast was good, the rooms were spacious, dated, but ours was clean. We also noticed that there were patients receiving health care by nurses. Not sure what that's about?? The area surrounding Lake Geneva is breathtaking.

Needs serious update / renovation. Only thing going for it is great view of Lake Geneva and super easy to walk to the lake. Rooms and property have old musty, stained carpet. Stained wallpaper in room, some moldy spots in bathroom and not enough outlets. Hotel also oddly shares space with a medical clinic and I saw a doctor visit a patient in a room a few doors down from me. No free breakfast when 5 other properties I've stayed at in Switzerland all offer free breakfast.