We assumed that Neuchatel would be a quaint little village on the shore of the lake. Wrong. Neither quaint, nor little (100,000 or so) and the hotel was nowhere near the lake. However! The hotel was up in the middle of the industrial section, but was in a heavily treed oasis on a river with a thundering waterfall; and absolutely serene. The hotel, the staff, and the breakfast the next morning were absolutely five star.