Police in Switzerland are investigating how a 22-year-old British woman died in a hotel room she was allegedly sharing with her boyfriend.

Anna Florence Reed was found dead on Tuesday at the four-star La Palma au Lac hotel near Locarno, on the banks of Lake Maggiore, after reports of a noisy disturbance in the room during the middle of the night.

Detectives leading the investigation said a 29-year-old man, believed to be her German partner, was arrested on suspicion of “intentional murder subjected to culpable homicide”.

A police statement said: “Just before 7am, police were alerted following the discovery of a body of a woman. The body was in the bathroom of a hotel room in Viale Verbano in Muralto. Investigations are under way to establish the cause.”

According to reports in Italy, early investigations suggested Reed, from Harrogate, North Yorkshire, was suffocated.

A full postmortem is expected at a later date, but police said they were not permitted to give an update on provisional results and could not confirm the identities of those involved.

Witnesses said hotel staff were called to the couple’s room in the middle of the night after reports that they were making too much noise.

It was suggested Reed had been dead for some hours by the time the alarm was raised.

A hotel spokesman declined to comment due to the police investigation.

Friends posted tributes to Reed on social media, with one writing: “RIP wifey Anna Florence Reed. Way too soon.”

A Foreign Office spokesman said: “Our consular staff are assisting the family of a British woman following her death in Switzerland, and are in contact with the Swiss and UK police.”