Hotel recommendation in Luzern?

When I was there in September I stayed at Hotel Goldener Stern, http://www.goldener-stern.ch/default_e.htm , a budget hotel only a 10 minute walk from the train station. Like you, I was in backpack mode as well. I found the locationand price to be good, it was only a short walk to almost everywhere I wanted to go, including the ferry for the Golden Round Trip ( if the weather is good you'll have a fantastic day on that trip believe me....)

Thanks we're soo excited! Going up Mt Pilatus looks soo awesome!

Oh I can promise you that if you hit good weather( I had a warm sunny day in late September), you will love the whole Golden Round Trip! The ferry is great, the tram is great, the views from Pilatus are incredible, and the cows in the mountain valleys are all decked out with cowbells. Be sure to bring a sweater or jacket just in case, as it can get cool up at the top of Pilatus.....

This is where I stayed the two times I was in Luzern.

http://www.alpina-luzern.ch/

About a minute walk to the train station and 5 minutes to the lake/river.

We spent five nights in Lucerne a year ago. We stayed at the Radisson. It was hard to find the entrance when we left the train station though, although it is very close by. It had a nice restaurant for breakfast with a nice view. Although you could still smell the smoke from the lobby, which is very close by. Lucerne is beautiful, but the smokers ruined it for us. Everybody smokes - inside the stations, inside hotels and inside stores and restaurants. In France and Britain, they aren't allowed to smoke indoors. The smokers have ruined what used to be a quaint town.

We stayed at the Hotel des Alpes by the Kappelbrucke. We also did the Mt Pilatus trip. Well worthwhile.