Hotel Pilatus Kulm

“Nice.”

First of all, the views are really stunning. The staff were very operative, friendly. Special thanks to the staff who cared of clean the snow from steps as fast as possible to get the best views from mountain. Food was really really delicious. Who is not staying at the hotel and is going to go ba… more

First of all, the views are really stunning. The staff were very operative, friendly. Special thanks to the staff who cared of clean the snow from steps as fast as possible to get the best views from mountain. Food was really really delicious. Who is not staying at the hotel and is going to go back to the city, the best time to go on a Pilatus is sunset.

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“Amazing. Do it!”

Amazing. We hiked up from Alpnachstad for a 4pm check-in. After the crowds leave you have the summit to yourself for sunrise and sunset. Feels very exclusive. The food is just amazing, the service too. Feel so lucky to have stayed here. A must do.

“One of the great hotels”

Its location alone marks it out as a special hotel. All rooms have amazing mountain views over the Alps, especially in the evenings when the sun is setting behind the hotel. Our room was lovely with quite old-fashioned furnishings giving it character. Plenty of space and storage. Bathroom modern… more

Its location alone marks it out as a special hotel. All rooms have amazing mountain views over the Alps, especially in the evenings when the sun is setting behind the hotel. Our room was lovely with quite old-fashioned furnishings giving it character. Plenty of space and storage. Bathroom modern and good shower. No tea/coffee in the room but available outside in the upstairs lobby along with fruit etc. The dining room is full of character, and our group food was very good quality. Breakfast buffets are pretty good. However we were let down on one night by very slow service - nearly 1 1/2 hours before we got to our main course - unacceptable for a hotel of this quality. Apparently most of the staff leave in the evenings to go back home down the mountain and it all depends on the quality of the team on duty. Given that one of the features are the views at sunset, we don't want to spend three hours sitting inside at a meal. Be aware that the area gets very busy when the visitors arrive mid-morning to late afternoon - early mornings and evenings are much quieter. There are excellent walks around the peaks and caves around the hotel and mountaintop.

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“Disappointing Mixed Experience”

Our visit to Mt Pilatus was one we'd been looking forward to for over two decades. We originally planned to visit for our 25th anniversary, but we eventually got to visit for our 45th anniversary in October 2025. We used the funicular for both trips and enjoyed it very much. And to say that the vi… more

Our visit to Mt Pilatus was one we'd been looking forward to for over two decades. We originally planned to visit for our 25th anniversary, but we eventually got to visit for our 45th anniversary in October 2025. We used the funicular for both trips and enjoyed it very much. And to say that the views from above are stunning would be an understatement. Our experience at the hotel was a mixed bag. This was the most expensive of all hotels we stayed at during our vacation, yet the room was only basic. The room key cards that reception gave us did not activate the door lock. Neither did the second pair. The third pair finally worked. Fortunately, the reception staff were very helpful and friendly throughout, which made it acceptable. When we arrived in the room, we found that it was a connecting room with a (locked) door to the room next door. And in that connected room was a couple with a naughty child who kept on screaming and shouting about everything. So, we asked to move and they moved us to another floor far away from the noisy family. Later that evening, we had dinner in the (very beautiful) dining room. And we both felt the dining experience was better than we experienced at a Michelin star restaurant in Germany. The food was exceptional and the staff very friendly and helpful. The room was smallish, but that didn't matter because you don't go to Mt Pilatus to sit in your room, right? The room is only for sleeping. Talking about sleeping -- although the bed was comfortable, the pillow was too soft. Even folded double, it collapsed to almost nothing and I could not sleep on it. Eventually, I took a scatter cushion and used that as my pillow for the night. Needless to say, I did not have a good night there. The next morning I got up before sunrise for photography. And when I wanted to shower there was no hot water, so I had to wash with cold water. [Strangely, when my wife wanted to shower (about an hour later) there was hot water.] Then we had breakfast in the dining room before we checked out and took the funicular down to Alpnachstad. In summary, the views and the meals were great. But the rest of our experience was mediocre... which was really disappointing considering we'd been looking forward to a Mt Pilatus visit for over two decades. Will we go again? Yes... as a day visitor just to enjoy the views. But we won't stay at the hotel again.

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