Lenkerhof Gourmet Spa Resort - Relais & Châteaux

An old fashioned, not specially nice grand hotel from outside but very nicely refurbished and maintained inside. Service is as expected at this level: courteous and efficient. Our room was not extremely large but very comfortable with excellent bedding and a pleasant balcony. The hall and the bar are somewhat impersonal and uninviting and the few flashing lights behind the pianist were certainly unable to help for this. The spa (I'm talking about the sauna area not the swimming pool with kids that we didn't use) looks pretty new and is very well made. However it is quite small and the - very pleasant - relaxation area, takes a good part of it. This leaves not much surface for the rest and on top of that the hotel unfortunately chose to split it in two zones (thus removing precious square meters for a very small and unnecessary textile area). The result is that saunas are mostly extremely small. A real pity given the potential of the place. The spa is conveniently accessible the day of departure which is very good. But why opening half of it 3 hours after the other?? This is disappointing and incomprehensible! Excellent breakfast, free outside parking. Wifi a bit weak in some areas but otherwise ok. And a of course, as we are in Switzerland, a few pettiness that are always surprising when you spend several hundreds franc a night in a 5* resort... like the inside parking more expensive in winter (!) or the second egg in the eggs Benedict for 4.50 extra (!!)... come on...

We stayed for a couple of nights at this property at the end of July to unwind in the Simmental. We enjoyed the stay as the valley kind of ends in Lenk with views of mountains such as the Windstrubel, went to hike, explored the village, and above all, as the weather was unstable, enjoyed the spacious spa area. In addition, the breakfast buffet was very good and the team was service oriented.

Great location for a ski holiday as it has immediate access to rental and skiing. Nice and generous spa facilities for a apres ski. No Sun exposure. Large offering of restaurants that are rather in the culinary offering but not necessarily gourmet category. Lacks personal attention for a 5 star hotel , part of the relais&chateau group. Price / Performance to be compared to similar institutions.

Firstly the positives. Great location, surrounded by mountains, very well appointed spa area, comfortable rooms, a variety of dining options and most importantly a very friendly staff. Good live singer in the evenings (does make for a rather retro 70s feel but fun!) We enjoyed our stay and would likely return and can recommend but also want to provide feedback in the hope it is useful for future improvement So why 4/5 and not 5/5? Due to comparing like for like, a property that is in the 5*L category and charges ＞800 chf a night (see reviews of The Park, The Chedi etc), details matter. The first night we went to the pre-booked restaurant (Spettacolo) and initially told we were booked elsewhere (Oh Vie) until I showed them the email confirmation - a table was found but our dietary restrictions were not conveyed. On the final night (4) we returned to Spettacolo - reservation was made for 7.45, we arrived promptly at 7.40. We ordered water (still) and two glasses of champagne- water arrived as sparkling 20mins later (we didn’t change), champagne 10 mins after that and still no menus. After asking for menus they arrived with the wine list - we waited and had to ask a passing staff member to take our order approx 8.20 (the table next to us had already been served wine, even though we arrived just slightly ahead of them) - order placed we waited for the wine, which required a further reminder. Then at 9.20 we received our main courses, no starters ever received - the waiter did apologize but by this time we preferred to move to the bar for French fries and cheese; we settled the bill and even though we mentioned that we would go to the bar, no help was offered to transfer our bottle of wine and we took it and the glasses with us by ourselves. These details matter and the hotel seems to lack that serious attention to detail, also in house keeping twice items were not replaced and once they forgot to leave floor mats. Finally, at a hotel of this calibre, one expects high quality cocktails, twice dry vodka martinis were anything but dry - hence the 4/5

We visited this hotel again and were fully satisfied with the quality of sleep, cleanness of the room and truly delicious dinners. The hotel has very nice wellness area and provides excellent choices for breakfast.

Lenkerhof had been on the "to do" list for a long time, so we were glad we finally made it. The hotel is quite large and spacious, maintaining a bit of an 80s flavour (despite being partially renovated). Our stay has been quite pleasurable. A couple of details to note: - the indoor pool is decent size (albeit pretty basic) and very close to the outdoor pool, but the two are not connected. - the outdoor pool is significantly warmer. - the suite we stayed at, consisting of a bedroom and separate living room, has an open shower area (no door). This means that if there are children sleeping in the living room (convertible sofa), they can see you in the shower if they decide to walk towards the parents' bedroom (but if not there is no direct eye contact, the room being quite large and comfortable - and with amazing views!). - the food at both restaurants was impeccably presented and really delicious overall. - the sauna/hammam experience did not disappoint. - spa treatment (facial) was very good. The view and the nature around the hotel is beautiful. A satisfying and relaxing stay overall.