Just 12 hours ago, we had grand plans to hike the Wildheupfad trail. It’s stunning, we’d been told — a wild haymaking path that overlooks the emerald Lake Uri, an hour’s train ride away from our palatial sanctuary on the banks of Lake Luzern. But now we are cosily ensconced in deep armchairs, noshing on poached eggs and local Sbrinz cheese by a picture window at Mandarin Oriental Palace Luzern overlooking the lake. Leaving this oasis feels like a waste of good fortune.
From this perch, it’s easy to see why Europe’s noble class flocked here during La Belle Epoque. The scenic serenity is breathtaking. Were you a wealthy European in the late 19th century, whose elitist stronghold on the government was waning, this would have been the perfect retreat from the grim realities of the rising democracy.
In the early 1900s, this was the Palace Hotel, a sumptuous retreat dreamed up by Swiss entrepreneur Franz Josef Bucher. In those early years, it was a beacon for pleasure seekers, mountaineers and adventurers who joined Queen Victoria among its roster of guests.
More than a century later, Bucher’s legacy lives on under the auspices of the Mandarin Oriental. No longer just a place for the noble — the likes of us are here, after all — the rather more egalitarian Mandarin Oriental Palace Luzern still bears its La Belle Epoque bones in its regal scagliola columns, stucco walls and original chequered marble floor.
