Jailhotel Löwengraben

I came here on Contiki and I can see it has a lot of terrible reviews… well I wouldn’t go that far, but it definitely wasn’t great. The rooms were tiny, you barely had room to put any of your stuff. The top bunk was near impossible to get onto and the bathroom felt like being enclosed in a tiny box. It didn’t feel particularly clean, but it was alright. We were there for New Years and the tour took over an entire floor for our pre-​drinking which they hostel didn’t mind too much. There is no elevator so if you’re on the third floor you’re going to have to do a lot of walking. The wifi isn’t great and is only available in reception and the second floor lobby.

I stayed here for two nights back in 2011 when I was part of an EF Collegebreak tour. The location is quite nice to be honest, with a cool river area near by and parts of town walking distance as well. To say this hotel was unusual would be an understatement and I’ll agree with the person above with the haunted and spook factor that goes with; it was a prison for crying out loud that became a prison hotel. What’s a prison hotel you ask? Well, check this place out and you’ll see. I stayed in a room with a bunk bed and a full bed, the mattresses were basic and on the thinner side. I can sleep in any circumstance so I had no issues that I can remember, but I can’t say the same for yourself. You’ll definitely get a authentic prison experience here as the doors have locks and latches on them, and barred windows. At least you’ll know you’re safe; no one can get in or out! Some of the rooms were different from what I remember, like some having bigger bathrooms and the like.
The hallways were spooky especially at night, so spooky it could probably make a grown man cry and wet himself. The lights of the hallways wouldn’t turn on until a good two minutes after walking through them, and I’m pretty sure I was praying that when they turned on I didn’t see some lady in black or white there standing still.
I’m not sure if it’s modernized now or anything but no there was no tv, radio, glass showers, nice bathrooms, etc etc. The rooms are not huge but they do the job for a budget friendly place. If you want a prison experience this is probably the place! They did have free Wifi, so that was plus! I even got some sort of Wifi when I was outside of the hotel like 500 feet away or more; nice!
I did like location a lot though as I said so I’ll give it that.

I stayed in this hotel for one night as part of the Contiki European Magic Tour. To say that it is haunted and spooky is an understatement. The place probably had lead walls because no one had any cell reception and the free wifi only worked if you are literally in the front desk area.
However, with that said– the hotel was such a horrible place that ironically, became one of the most memorable and fun nights on my trip. We got some wine and decided to make it a night in. We ended up sharing so many laughs and it was very interesting to see the different layouts of each room. Some rooms did not have a bathroom, while another guy in our tour ended up getting the master suit which had a library. This place is just strange– and another funny part is that none of the locals knew about the hotel when we stopped to ask for directions. The breakfast the next morning though ended up being the best hotel breakfast I had on the entire trip. There’s something about that Swiss milk and ham that is so creamy and delightful. I can’t say that I will be back but I enjoyed the experience nonetheless.

Letztes Jahr war ich zweimal in Luzern und es war ganz OK. Der Vierwaldstättersee und so, lecker Käsefondue, Ovomaltine bis zum Abwinken, nette Lädchen, in denen ich mich ausstaffieren konnte wie eine neureiche russische Oligarchengattin, und viele alte Gebäude. Ganz hübsch — das war’s dann aber auch. Die Stadt ist ein einziges Rentnerparadies. Nix los ausser shopping und essen. Bestimmt gibt es in einigen Hotels nachmittags Tanztee zum schwofen, habe ich aber nicht abgecheckt. Auf jeden Fall wird das ein Programmpunkt, wenn ich in 2050 mit Labude dort Urlaub mache!
Dann werde ich aber bestimmt nicht mehr ins Jailhotel gehen. Diese Unterkunft war bis 1998 tatsächlich noch in Gebrauch für Schweizer, die mit dem Gesetz in Konflikt gerieten. Jetzt ist es eine Art Eventhotel für Masochisten.
Wir hatten ein Most wanted Zweibettzimmer mit Nasszelle für ca. 86EUR/​Nacht. Das hiess, ungefähr 4 qm, zwei Liegen, vergittertes Fenster, wo man nicht mal die Scheibe selbst öffnen/​schliessen kann und ein Waschbecken mit Spiegel. Die Nasszelle ist ein Pappverschlag mit Dusche und Toilette, mitten in den winzigen Raum gepfercht.
Auf dem Flur roch es etwas streng nach den Auswirkungen von Alkoholexzessen, obwohl alles täglich piccobello sauber geputzt wurde. Zu der Zeit ging es mir nicht so gut und mein Geruchssinn und Ekelgefühl waren dadurch verschärft in Aktion. Keine schöné Sache. Allein die Anekdötchen aus dem früheren Knastalltag, die an den Zellentüren aushängen, konnten mir noch ein Lächeln abringen.
Neben der Rezeption gibt es einen Club (Knascht-​Club oder so ähnlich), der bei der Dorfjugend regen Anklang findet. Von Wellness oder Fitnessfacilities kann man nur träumen.
Fazit: Für Klassenfahrten ist dieses Etablissement bestimmt ganz lustig, für ältere Semester wie mich kann ich es nicht wirklich empfehlen.