Villa Principe Leopoldo

a hidden gem. |a small paradise to unwind and find peace surrounded by lush nature and the most beautiful view over the lake Lugano. ||I already gave my recommendation years ago, but I had the urge to write down some sentence again. ||Villa Principe Leopoldo is my „secret“ place to go, if I need a break, to slow down, to „breathe“.|The whole team is from top notch. ||Any time I come back, it’s like coming home again. This quiet peace on earth is a heaven to me. |The management is from such a high level but at the same time you just feel familiar. ||The hotel is surrounded by lush gardens, wonderful nature, beautiful coffees and restaurants, hiking trails and historical places.||The beautiful rooms/ Suites are facing the most stunning and unique view over the lake Lugano, I spend hours just gazing at the horizon and get lost in this gorgeous landscape. (Highly recommend a Suite with Lake View and Balcony…) ||The restaurant does not only serve you at the highest level, I would say it will guide you to another world. It speak itself as a holder of Michelin star with a panorama view… |Excellent service. |—I fell in love with the grilled branzino! ||The spa… thank you Francesca! Your hands are golden! I highly recommend to try a treatment and don’t miss to get use of the privat spa experience to relax, refresh and revitalize. ||Thanks to Danilo who made my arrival just perfect and smooth, always leaving me with a little smile. Thanks you Aurora who leaves no wishes unseen and made sure I’ll experience my best time. You truly did! Thank you Arianna for your kindness and perfect organization, your help and everything. Thanks to Martina and Erik for your great service. I could name the whole team as everyone is in such a thrill to make the best and they truly do. |Simply excellent.||Thank you.

It's difficult to write this review because we expected so much more. We congratulate the new GM, Matteo, for his commitment to improvement. The hotel is in a wonderful position with a spectacular view of Lugano and beautiful gardens. and there are some lovely staff. The pool onsite is small so we went to the lovely larger pool and gym at the hotel next door to swim laps. The main fine dining restaurant is very good (though expensive) and I’ve completed a separate review on it.||The things which need improvement include:|1. The AC which never went down below about 21 degrees which is too warm for good quality sleep.|2. Charges. You need to be very careful you are not charged for things which you have not requested eg. We were charged 45 Swiss francs for a taxi into Lugano which turned out to be a limousine which we did not request. Normal cost to go into Lugano is 15-20. It’s better taking Ubers than taxis as way cheaper|3. At the second outdoor restaurant/bar we were charged 15 fra for a pot of hot water with lemon in it! We got this removed from the bill. |4. Furthermore, the cost of the food in the second restaurant/bar is too high and should ideally differ in style and offering to the Main restaurant. |6. Breakfast is not at the quality of the hotel. The offering needs to include many more healthy and gluten-free options, organic eggs and fruits (where possible), more cooked dish options like healing porridges, some kind of soup or bone broth, more egg options with interesting sides, crepes/pancakes etc.|7. Pillows were either too soft or too hard.|8. The Spa Suite with steam room and sauna etc should be complimentary for any guests staying in house because these sorts of facilities are generally a normal inclusion in these sorts of hotels.||We trust the hotel will make the necessary improvements to services and offerings to offer true value.

Truly we loved this place. Coming up the hill, on the narrow street and surprise, it opens up to the leopoldo and instantly you know you're somewhere special. And then the concierge meets you and the breakfast is incredible, the people are super the view out the back for dinner, Surprise, and live music is second to none. The rooms are special, they are set up so efficiently and so beautifully.

Don’t waste your money on this hotel. It certainly left a sour taste for us, especially on our last day checking out. We had to pay extra charges as we had a hotel credit but they failed to mention it was only for the bar. As I told them this was not specified when checking in. The check in staff did not care, quite disgraceful with there attitude. During breakfast I asked if they could make an eggs Benedict, they said sorry we don’t make those until 9am. What kind of luxury hotel is this? We asked if they had an extra phone charger for the stay, they wanted to charge us for that. I said forget it don’t bother. The pool was quite dirty and turned us away from going in also. This place treats you like a number, they simply don’t care. You are better off going somewhere.

Full review below but some important notes and opinions… I have no idea how this hotel has earned 2 Michelin Keys. There are some major red flags from our experience. Our first night, turndown service came in and left trash behind? The curtains were only half closed and some things only slightly tidied up.. our first reaction was actually thinking that our room had been broken into. Super bizarre for a 5*. The second day, we had a long excursion all day and returned at 3:30pm. Our room had still not been cleaned by housekeeping. Again, weird for a 5*. We called to reserve the sauna and requested the room be cleaned while we use it. We then find out the Sauna is at a separate hotel?? We have to leave the hotel to use the sauna - or pay $200 to use the one at VPL. Our room rate advertised inclusion of sauna and NOWHERE did it say you have to leave the property to use it? Again, so bizarre for a 5*! Later this day, a large man knocked on the door and entered the room while my wife was in a towel and I was sitting on the couch. Started asking us questions inside the room without being invited it. Super strange and alarming. He was checking on us, great, but he entered the room by key without us opening the door for him?? We have stayed at luxury properties around the world and at multiple Relais and Chateux as well. By far the worst service level we have received in recent memory. Save your money! 📍 Stayed: June 8-10, 2025 🏨 Room Type: Deluxe One Bedroom Suite Room: 7.5/10 The rooms do the job and have been updated while keeping a level of charm and history. The views of the lake are very nice. Rooms have a musty smell, likely due to age and air vent filters. Service: 3/10 Read above. The only stars we experienced were with the bellman. Property & Amenities: 4/10 Beautiful historical property with views but amenities lack and age is showing in some bad places. Spa with sauna, steam room, jacuzzi costs $200+ to use for an hour and it is in what feels like a dungeon from the early 2000s. Location: 6/10 Beautiful view but NOT walkable and nothing is nearby. Taxis cost $30-50 one way to go anywhere. Value: 1/10 Stay elsewhere. Would I return? Absolutely not.

It's a very beautiful hotel with an amazing view of the lake and mountains. The staff service is excellent. Everyone was very helpful if we needed anything during our stay. My husband and I had a very nice stay here! We would definitely recommend!

A luxury hotel deserving of its reputation. We spent one night for our 20th wedding anniversary and the entire experience was perfect. For a banjo player and a puppeteer, this was a very special place to celebrate.

Principe Leopoldo is always beautiful but we had an excellent dinner service recently with Massimo and Eric. Thank you for such stellar service; you went above and beyond. Dinner was delicious and the view of the lake was stunning. We will be back again.

This hotel presents itself as a 5-star hotel. It may have been at one time, however that time has surely passed. I would give it 0 Stars, but they do have an amazing view. The hotel is VERY dated, old furniture and fixtures. There were old bodily fluids on the bedspread, the towels had "baked in" dirt on them. When speaking to locals, they said they believe that the hotel is resting on its laurels and it's Michelin starred restaurant. Extra added bonus: they misplaced our car keys, finally finding them after 45 minutes. DO NOT STAY HERE EXPECTING A 5-STAR EXPERIENCE!!! Giving them the benefit, it's at best a 2-star hotel.

This is a great spot and I would highly recommend it. It is walking distance from Lugano (20-30 minutes pending where you going) and the staff are just fantastic. My son and I had dinner in the main restaurant one night which did not disappoint at all. We took advantage of the inability to get swiss wine outside the country and ordered a nice 2012 Merlot that had a bit of age but was still clearly a young wine. The squash flowers had a flavor which they lacked earlier in the week at a restaurant in Milan and the duck was just fantastic--perfectly cooked with nice accompaniments. I forgot to snap a picture of dessert so I do not recall it but I know we loved it!

Beautiful villa Príncipe Leopoldo hotel in the hills above Lugano. Incredible views, incredible breakfast. Such a wonderful place to visit for a special trip to Lugano.

This review is solely for having a drink with a view for which it gets 5 stars. Though pricey the view is the best in Lugano. Romantic. Highly recommend.

This review is for the Park Hotel Príncipe which is formerly called the Residences Leopoldo. In actual fact, the name has changed only on their website but not in reality. When you arrive the sign directs those to Villa Leopoldo up one driveway and to the Residences across the way. The name confusion aside we are really recommend this place. It is vintage hotel life at it's best. We stayed at the Residences/Park Hotel in January for four nights with our 4 year old son and were impressed. The hotel has all of it's original design details in tact and is immaculately maintained. The details are too many to describe, one has to see it to believe it. The rooms are huge, 45m2. We stayed in a classic double and were very happy. No, it is not modernized, but the original elements, so carefully preserved, are better than modern day (often cheap) replacements. The building is so solid there are no sound issues. We had a small balcony with electronic shutters for full black out and all else that you could need. It is beautifully situated and so quiet for sleeping! The sister hotel Villa Leopoldo across the road has an incredible view. Depending on the time of year breakfast may be served there, but you can also pop over there for a drink or a meal, or just to have a look at the view. The incredible devotion to detail is also reflected in all of the staff: The amazing housekeeping staff provide you with anything you need (I found the bed too hard and was promptly provided with a soft topper In a timely and pleasant way) and leave your room spotless without the terrible smells of chemical agents used in many hotels... The desk staff were all fluent in many languages, attentive, prompt, knowledgeable and gracious.... The breakfast was a wonderful buffet of great variety and also managed and served by wonderful and helpful people. There is a great looking pool, it would be fabulous to be there in the summer. This place is from a bygone era where things were built to truly cater to the needs of the guests, and more amazingly it is maintained and run this way by all the staff without exception. It is truly a gem. Many modern "fancier" hotels we have experienced have not come close to the quality of experience that you can have here. This is why we are taking the time to write a review. If we return to Lugano we'll definitely stay here!