Novotel Lugano Paradiso

A practical and convenient hotel for short stays. Rooms are clean and well maintained, and the front desk service is friendly. Don’t expect luxury extras this is a functional place that focuses on the basics. Breakfast is average to below average and could be improved. Overall, a good choice if you just need a clean and comfortable place to stay.

Hotel is close to the lake but some (beautiful) walking away from Lugano ‚downtown‘. Hotel has a beautiful pool but it only had sun between 12 and 14.30 (early September) and that wasn’t even for the whole pool. Is build between three building blocks. Free large towels are provided by the pool, which is great. If you want to swim by the lake, there is a great Lido nearby. Hotel has a decent small but functional gym, which needs a separate access card (that could have been told/provided during check-in). Room was quiet with good cleaning, bed comfortable but carpet and curtains not so pretty. Coffee machine in the room wasn’t working the whole stay despite us informing the reception twice. Big plus for free drinking water (also sparkling) on every floor. Great breakfast buffet with regular refills. Breakfast service was a bit grumpy, dinner/bar service really friendly.

I knock off a few points because there wasn’t good lighting in the bathrooms, at least not for the accessible room. And also the bar next to the toilet would not stay up, making it tricky. Also the pool is great but closed earlier than posted 8pm rather than 10pm which was on a sign- so much for summer night swims boasted in photos on their website. The food was good, breakfast perfect. Restaurant was pricey but relieved to have the option the couple times we ate there. Staff was great, the location was nice even though it wasn’t in the center, we were able to enjoy the lake with plenty of activities on the walk.

We have been at Novotel over summer for a few days with the family. The location is great, close to the lake and city centre. The staff at reception was very nice and also cleaning stuff. Our kids loved the pool. When it comes to the rooms they’re all very small, around 20m2, small windows which you can’t really open, and no terraces at all. That was for us the biggest minus. For breakfast in a 4-star hotel you would expect to get fresh omelette, but unfortunately you only can order this from menu and have to pay for it. Therefore we think this is a good business hotel, but for leisure probably not.

Stayed for two nights over the weekend. All staff was exceptionally friendly. Nice and heated outdoor pool. Rooms are of a good site and we slept very well. Cocktails are great.

Stayed 2 nights. Good facilities with swimming pools and gym. Breakfast was great with scrambled eggs, sausages, speck, vegi etc apart from the typical continental ingredients. Great location close to the famous bakery Munger, the lake, trains, Mount St Salvatore and convenient store. Overall very good value to money.

More than a dozen stays at Novotel Lugano, but more than 3 years after my last visit, my recent stay was the worst. Rooms are spacious and clean. Worst is mattress, it is now impossible to sleep without back pain. Used to be just fine. Breakfast used to be great, it is now subpar, even by Novotel standards. Orange juice is a shame (same with grapefruit) compared to the juices selection that used to be on offer. Hot drinks used to be made to order, now you have two extremely noisy coffee makers… Pastries selection is now maybe 20% of what it used to be. Too bad. Plus side, is the restaurant that is much better than it used to be, both for lunch and dinner. Cost cutting pushed too far. Won’t come back.

Stayed in the hotel in June for 4 nights. The property looks nice and modern and very well maintained. The rooms are clean and well kept, though the family room given to us was a little short on space for a family of 4. Location is great, 10 minutes walk from the train station. The breakfast spread was good and had a variety of options for vegetarians too, which to us was a big positive. The only negative was that we found the staff rude and inhospitable. I mean who would refuse a glass of water to an in-house guest and that too in the rudest possible manner. The only one who stood out for us was Molly at the breakfast buffet who went out of her way to make us comfortable.

This hotel was booked through my group tour with Globus. I have no idea what the price would normally be. The location is okay. It's about 5 minute walk to the water front and a 20 minute leisure walk to the center of town. It's a really nice walk along the water, but might be tiresome if you have any mobility issues. The rooms were quite nice. I'm not sure if they have true queen or king beds, as I had two single beds pushed together and covered with a mattress topper. This was great except for the fact that the comforters were two twin size ones still. The bathroom was also one of the biggest ones we've had in Switzerland. The water pressure in the shower is a bit weak. The wall of the bathroom is glass, so if you're sharing a room with someone in their inside, it does light up the room. There is no curtain because it's the other side of the shower. Breakfast is okay, nothing special. Switzerland hotel breakfasts definitely cannot compare to the extensive and varied breakfasts at Asian hotels.

(Disclaimer: I give two stars and lower to businesses I would never willingly return to) I stayed at Novotel Lugano Paradiso for two nights recently. Given that Novotel is a 4 star hotel, I am disappointed by my stay. This is also the second Novotel hotel I can recall staying at in Europe. Let's start with the good: For two people, there's a lot of floor space to put luggage. There's also a lot of counter space in the bathroom. Our room had a mini fridge, a safe, and a small tea/coffee/hot water set. I liked how they provided bathrobes and slippers that you can take home. There's also a cool-looking swimming pool (that was never open during my stay, but maybe it's the season) and a fitness room. Wifi was included with the stay and is surprisingly fast. The breakfast buffet had a decent selection, but they didn't have just a simple cup of coffee. They do have a Nespresso though that makes tiny espresso shots. This hotel's location is also not bad! It's a 20 min walk from the old town or a short 6 min bus ride away. They also provide free bus passes with your stay. When you exit, you're also very close to the lake. The bad. Where to start? Sometimes I hate staying in slightly "better" hotels because they seem to start nickel-and-diming you. Also for a hotel so close to Italy, the lack of EU plugs or USB ports to charge devices was frustrating. This was the first hotel on my trip where I was unable to charge my 2 devices overnight because I had to share one USB port with my roommate. They were selling the EU to Swiss port adapters for 15 CHF at the front desk. Bathroom window-fogging button is strange. I will never understand why Novotel decided to put a button where I can accidentally flash my roommate mid-shower. They had one in the other Novotel hotel I stayed at too. Reception service was also kind of frustrating. You would think a 4 star hotel would have thought through all user experiences, but apparently overlooked as something as simple as putting a sign by the tea and water downstairs. A simple sign saying that it was only for members during hotel check-in would've been very helpful. Instead, I was stopped by reception after having poured the tea to say it wasn't for normal guests. Overall, I probably wouldn't specifically return to this Novotel or any Novotel with outlets unique to one country.

Had a breakfast here as well as one night stay. Very close to the lake and a busy part of town. Rooms were very clean, modern and new. Comfortable beds. Service staff very responsive. Had the breakfast buffet. Very complete with an opportunity to cook eggs the way you want them.