U.S. and Iran to Hold Talks at Swiss Resort

The Burgenstock resort above Lake Lucerne will serve as the site for U.S.-Iran talks scheduled for Sunday. The location was proposed by Washington and Tehran along with mediators from Pakistan and Qatar to expand on a preliminary agreement aimed at ending nearly four months of conflict.

The resort sits on a ridge 450 meters above the lake with water on three sides, making it relatively easy to secure for high-level meetings. The property includes four main hotel buildings, seven restaurants, and additional villas.

The first hotel on the site opened in 1873.

Over the following decades the complex hosted multiple heads of government and international figures. Israeli prime ministers David Ben-Gurion and Golda Meir visited, as did West German chancellor Konrad Adenauer and U.S. president Jimmy Carter before taking office.

Screen actors including Audrey Hepburn, who married there in 1954, and Sean Connery, who stayed while filming a 1964 movie, also used the resort. The property changed ownership in 2007 when it was acquired by a Qatari investment fund.

The resort has previously hosted international discussions.

In June 2024 more than 90 countries sent representatives to a two-day summit on Russia's war in Ukraine. The site also held the Bilderberg meeting in 1960, 1981 and 1995, and four-way talks on Cyprus in 2004.