Due to a last minute issue with our planned hotel, I had to find a new hotel in Lucerne only a few weeks before our trip. This was not easy, because Lucerne is popular and expensive--all hotels recommended by RS or on the forum were fully booked. The only promising option I found through booking.com was the Krone Lucerne. I booked with them directly.
The Altstadt Krone Lucerne is in an ideal location, on Weinmarkt in the old town, just a few blocks from the river. It is similar to many other mid-priced hotels recommended by Rick Steves. There is a front desk, staffed until 10 or 11 pm, a pleasant breakfast room (we didn't get breakfast there), a small but modern elevator, and typically small modernized rooms, all in a historic building on a very nice square. Our room had a small desk, an honor bar, a comfortable bed, double-paned windows, and more storage than many similar rooms in Europe. There is no AC, but they provided fans, which were just about adequate the evening of our 80 degree last day. The front desk staff were helpful.
I was very happy to find this hotel, and would stay there again provided I didn't expect to need air conditioning.