2nd time to this hostel. Will definately come back again. Rooms are to die for. Clean rooms, towels, bedsheets etc. Good showers and toilets. Close to good restaurants and cheaper food stalls/shops. You can walk to just about everything in Lucerne, enjoy a wonderful city and everythiong it has to offer. Good job!

My husband (age 33) and I (age 28) stayed at Backpackers Lucerne for 3 nights in late August. This was our very FIRST hostel experience. We typically stay in very nice (4 or 5-star) hotels/resorts when traveling so this was very new to us. This specific vacation meant we had to skimp because we are Americans (whose money isn't worth much in Europe) and wanted to travel for a month.

With that said, we are probably not typical customers to Backpackers BUT if you are like us and are on the fence over whether to save money and stay at this hostel I'd say BOOK BACKPACKERS LUCERNE. My husband was especially reluctant to stay here as he is very concerned over cleanliness and was not excited to be sharing a bathroom. He didn't LOVE it but we both agreed we'd stay here again if it meant we got to travel for as long as we did.

Backpackers was quite a bit of money for what it was ($85 USD/night) but Switzerland is an expensive country so keep that in mind when considering this hostel. We had a PRIVATE double which was 2 twins pushed together. The hostel provides linens but you have to make the bed yourself. There is a small sitting table in the room, a set of lockers and bed side tables with reading lamps. You receive 1 towel each (we asked for a new towel after 2 showers but the front desk said it would cost 1 euro for a fresh towel). Good thing we weren't here for longer as that is relatively skimpy.

The hostel is in a safe neighborhood and, as others have mentioned, is a 10 minute walk from the train station and sits across from the lake. The directions the hostel sends you in the confirmation email were easy to follow and we did not have trouble finding Backpackers. There is also a sign at the train station that points you in the direction of Backpackers.

The bathrooms were kept clean and the shower was bigger than a lot of other non-hostel places we stayed at throughout our European trip.

The hostel did have WiFi, although, it was a bit spotty at times. It did work more often than not so I can't complain too much.

Their website states check-in after 4pm and we arrived at 1pm (after 3 plane rides and 1 train ride); many reviewers have stated they were not allowed to check-in early. When we arrived at 1pm the desk at the window was closed but staff was on-site. I believe that someone is staffed in the morning (to clean) so you can still get in contact to check-in early if your room is ready. We were luckily able to do so without any problem at all from Backpackers.

I'd recommend Backpackers for anyone on a budget or looking for cheap accommodation. My 3-star rating in the sea of 4 and 5-star reviews isn't a poor reflection on this hostel at all... but Backpackers STILL is a hostel afterall.