I'll start by saying depending on what you're looking for you'll either love the villa or not. If…read moreit's for simply staying for a few days I believe you'll love it! It's a bit on the pricey side and you can find other spots that are more cost effective. My review is based on planning a wedding here. If you're just staying as a guest it has everything on site, a little spa, a restaurant, breakfast included, and room service. Rooms are clean! The suites, romantic lake view, and attic room lake views were my favorite rooms in the villa. The cottage room is cute and spacious as well and comes with its own patio area as well. It's like an extension of the villa off to the side. It's hard to get transportation to and from the villa. It's not in a centrally located spot. Taxis will be very expensive so book a car. There's some street parking and I believe 3-4 garage spots for smaller vehicles. Paying to go from the Como train station to the Villa was around $250 per taxi ride. If you're planning a wedding like my husband and I did, that's a completely different story from just staying here a few days. I would recommend this spot for the rehearsal dinner but not your exclusive use wedding venue. Our guests all complained A LOT about the food being terrible on the big day. I'm here to report sadly I was disappointed in our food too they didn't bother heating the risotto for us it was extremely cold and tasteless. The steak also was very under cooked for all guests it was medium rare which most people do not eat. They didn't ask us how we would like it cooked. The Rehearsal dinner food: That was actually good. We did the pizza party and bbq. People told me they would've preferred the pizza over what we were served. The communication: We hired the on site day off coordinator and I would NOT recommend Laura. Don't waste your money. She was very confused the whole time, didn't make the day smooth and didn't really do anything. My family and vendors complained about her as well. The venue is beautiful but I would NOT recommend if you're doing anything more than an elopement go somewhere that specializes in weddings. Underwhelming and organized experience. As we all know weddings are too expensive for only beauty. Especially in Como, there's tons of other options that come with more. We had around 36 guests total, for perspective.

Heading to Lake Como and looking for a quiet and charming hotel that's away from the heavy tourist…read morespots? You may want to consider Relais Villa Vittoria. Researching the area, I came across this hotel on Mr & Mrs Smith, which specializes in boutique hotels. Villa Vittoria is located in Laglio, which is a super tiny town on the lake. In fact, this town is now best known thanks to George Clooney. He lives there. This is more of a destination hotel in that it is not in a busy town with eateries and shops. Laglio is so small there is basically just a church. Seriously! Keep this in mind if you are someone that prefers to be able to walk to restaurants and shops from your hotel. From here you either have to catch the commuter ferry, taxi boat or drive. The villa has an interesting history, like most places in the Como area. Its garden was used for the raising silkworms to produce silk, which is one of the most important things to know about Lake Como! There are twelve rooms- some offer lake views. The rooms are small but decently appointed. Complimentary wifi, air conditioning, lock boxes, spacious bathrooms with nice amenities. Breakfast is included in your stay and it's a traditional Italian spread with fresh fruit, bread, sweets, cereals, yogurt and of course cold cuts and cheeses. The hotel also has an infinity pool with a lovely lake view. The hotel staff is helpful in arranging for pretty much any activity you can think of on the lake. Relais Vittoria is intimate and relaxing.

Honestly, the only thing not to like about this place is the pricing. But, the pricing is justified…read morebased on the establishment and offerings. You want nice, you sometimes need to pay for nice. ;) It is perfectly located at the top of the main tourist area of Bellagio. They have rooms for short-term stays and "residence" rooms for longer stays. A couple of different restaurants, both with amazing views of the lake and overlooking their pool. Very cool, smaller sized bar with a great selection of spirits. They also have their own spa for anyone needing more relaxation. If you have the funds, book yourself a room and make reservations at both restaurants. After your meals, stroll out the front gate and walk around the shops and other restaurants that make Bellagio such a magical place. Enjoy!

This place was amazing. This review is about the hotel bar and Mistral the restaurant…read more The bar - the attention was fabulous. My husband ordered a gin and tonic. They said there is an experience with it. So they sprayed aromas and added floral pieces into his drink. He said it was delicious. They brought us some aperitif to have while we ate. Mistral. Worth every penny. Every course is explained to you. Our food and fishes were delicious. They changed our napkins 3 times. They would refill our water as soon as we put it down. If I left they would put my napkin back in my lap. There were no gaps in service. Ur all flowed well. It was a few hours with the most spectacular view of Lake Como and 5 star food. If I ever return, I will definitely return.

Highly Recommend! This place is amazing…read more Great service and the hotel was very nice and organized with good ambiance. Service was excellent. Staff were very nice and helpful. The staff is the most friendly and amazing in every way. 15 out of 10!! Everything here has been amazing t the food, rooms and service. The EER SPA is one of the best I have been to in the world for hotels. The only negative is they allow kids at certain times but that's ok and can go during adult hours. But be aware of this when you come to relax and leave your own kids at home. If I had my son he would love it here and I'll bring him next time. Food was excellent. Everything we had was fresh.

SANTA MARIA!!! This hotel is spectacular. My partner and I truly had the best time. We didn't…read morerealize it, but we arrived for opening weekend at the hotel. It's still the off season so it was quiet and fantastic. I booked using Amex FHR and the hotel graciously upgraded our room to a junior suite. We were celebrating my husband's bday and they left a bottle of prosecco in the room as well. The concierge and front desk team were really responsive via email leading up to our stay. They helped me book an agriturismo for lunch, as well as some spa appointments. The service is just astoundingly good. Andrea at the ristorante was a joy! The gentleman who works at the bar with glasses and the gentleman who just moved back to Italy from Canada were also lovely! The boutique is SO cute and shockingly reasonable. The woman who works here was very helpful in finding the right sizes and colors. The spa is out of the world. If you're not staying at the hotel, I recommend booking a treatment or buying a day pass to experience it. It's so gorgeous and absolutely massive. We loved the hot and cold pools and showers. The grounds of the hotel are beautiful and meticulously kept after. The views of the Lake are beautiful and best enjoyed from the hotel's front lawn. The hotel is, of course, quite expensive, but you get what you pay for! The staff here don't miss a beat and our stay was full of little, meaningful surprises. It really is such a special place!

By far one of the best, privately hotels I've ever stayed at in my life. Everything you see on…read moretheir website, is even better in person. The staff is extremely friendly and helpful. The room was pristine. The views from our balcony were unreal. The restaurant was great, the breakfast was great. I will absolutely be coming back here when I stay in Varenna someday again. Make sure you listen to their website when it says to pack light, you really do have to climb up a lot of stairs to get to your room that are very narrow and it is pretty much impossible to do if you have a large suitcase.

The Albergo Milano and the Hotel Du Lac were the Hotels that "got away" during our recent 3 night…read morestay in the Lake Como area. My guess is that Varenna is a magnet for American destination weddings, which probably explains why parts of these Hotels' reservation books were already full, even when we inquired many months in advance. The Albergo Milano is located right in the old town and up. It looks very romantic and complete with killer views from the balcony.

This was our first visit here. There were many great aspects to this hotel but unfortunately, many…read morepoor interactions as well. At check-in, the staff on the lobby floor were all very helpful and friendly. The room was also very spacious and clean which was great. Modern finishes and updated compared to other options in the area. Views from the room we had were also very nice, especially at sunset. It was great for our family that this room we booked had 2 bathrooms and a pullout bed, though the pullout bed was very hard and not very comfortable. We appreciated some of the complimentary gifts provided due to our Hilton status. Where the service slipped, was at the pool and rooftop area. On our second to last day, 2 of us decided to head to the pool around 3pm. It was busy and there were not any spots to sit/lay down. Many chairs had towels and belongings left on them where people had either left to go into the pool or left to their room to come back later or potentially not at all. We waited for some assistance near the bar area and eventually, some other guests arrived, trying to scope out spots as well. After about 15 minutes, I approached one of the guys walking around and asked if there were any spots available. He talked with one of his partners and they walked around a bit and said everything is taken (no kidding). I asked if any of the spots were just towels people left and they were done for the day and he claimed it's impossible to know. He then said to wait off to the side and he'd get us a chair to place our things so we could go in the pool. We stood off to the side (in the hot sun) for about 20 min and he never brought us the chair. We watched him walk around doing other things avoiding eye contact with us. Yet, his colleague helped another couple who arrived after us get a spot. We decided enough is enough and left. The staff need to do a much better job cleaning spots off when people leave and actually follow-through on their work. Additionally, there should be time limits so that someone cannot claim a lounge chair in the morning and use it all day long so that no one else can use the pool. There's limited space to begin with so something should be done. Additionally, the pool closed at 6PM which I think is very early and pretty unreasonable. I'm assuming this is because they do not want the noise or inconvenience for their restaurant but still. The restaurant is a whole other experience, but overall, poor food quality, slow, and overpriced. Overall, if visiting Como again, I would likely choose another place to stay as this location could use some improvements to quality of service and overall value when looking at your nightly price.

Upgraded room, yay!, with balcony! Best view of Lake Como on the rooftop bar/pool! Great pool and…read morebar albeit pricey drinks & bites but view was more tuan worth it! Yep is it reasonable €700 a night this time of year, absolutely! Attended my nephew's wedding at Villa geno just across the lake with water fountain as backdrop... fun evening that lasted til 3am!

This review is for the restaurant Veranda as we did not stay in the Villa d'Este hotel…read more We came here for dinner on Friday night along with two other couples. Upon arrival we were told that the men needed to be wearing jackets. I wish that our hotel had told us because my husband had packed one, but luckily the restaurant keeps spare jackets on site for just this situation. The large dining room is incredibly old school with beautiful brass dining chairs laden in blue and yellow striped fabric. When they brought out the wine list I thought it was a joke because it was the size of a dictionary! For dinner I had the beet tartare and the veal filet. The soy marinated tofu was a little bit of an odd flavor combined the beet dish but besides that it was quite good. My husband started with the gnocchi and it may have been the best dish of the night, it was dynamite. In my opinion, my veal filet was better than my husbands beef filet and I also really enjoyed the petite eggplant parmigiana that came with it. Soufflé and ice creams for dessert were a big hit, but I was especially pleased because I asked if they had some dark chocolates off menu and they brought me out a beautiful assortment that tasted as good as they looked. Great restaurant if you are looking for an elegant evening out on the town or an excuse to use the dinner jacket that you packed but thought you wouldn't need.

Wonderful, elegant hotel, but an employee stole purchases I had made to bring home worth $850.00…read more While at dinner Someone made off with Lovely things I bought.

Getting here was pits. We took the ferry option. Sounded like it was the best option. From Como…read moreto Lezzeno took only 30 min with only one stop at the dock across the lake. Had to walk to the hotel from the dock (drop off) which was good 10 minutes with luggage but no side walk and very narrow road. Not good, not to my scale, unsafe. Once at the hotel, all went well. They had to scan the passport, do the welcome drink, surprised us with bottle of champagne. Went to eat at the restaurant at the shore level. Very attentive service. For American, easily Michelin rated service. You know the kind where they come and change the plates and utensils every time you finish the dish. Also, paying attention to you at a distance (not to hover) and immediately responds. Awesomeness. Shower? Wow. It was very soothing to ise waterfall option. Not a rain shower but water fall. Stream of hot water falling from the ceiling, easily one of the highlight of this location. Forget about the weak water pressure, restricted water flow, dirty and moldy bathrooms of USA. Marriott, Hilton, Sheraton! Need to send your US people to here to learn the basic. Actually I did see 4 star rating. I m gonna check on this. Room is spacious, well appointed and comfortable. Glad to stay here!

White glove service, exquisite culinary preparations and presentation, unimaginable views of Lake…read moreComo. Freshest local selections of vegetables, herbs, fruits, wines, spirits, cheese, seafood and meats artfully prepared. I don't know how there are not more reviews of this phenomenal establishment. Maybe just not this platform? Will do a separate review of the equally magnificent hotel

There's a restaurant in the Grand Hotel Tremezzo, it overlooks Lake Como & boy is it gorgeous…read more Staff is stellar, on point & gracious. Full bar & great cocktails. Came for lunch, what a nice surprise. Ordered the grilled prawns, after checking with the wait staff that the prawns would not come with their heads on, I was assured they were cleaned thoroughly & they were, excellent. Hubby ordered the risotto with asparagus, absolutely divine. As you wait, fresh baked bread, like a puff pastry is brought out to snack on, just heavenly. No dessert - we only leave dessert for dinner, so we have to return for dinner & definitely try one of their desserts! Word to the wise, this place is pricey, yet for me given the level of service & how good the food tasted it was well worth the price. No pics, too busy enjoying the view, the food & the people watching.

We had the absolute greatest experience here! We came just for lunch and drinks and to enjoy the…read morebeautiful views The service was incredible - very attentive, clean and pleasant. The food was some of the best that we had in Italy. The drinks were, by far, the most delicious we've had. Everything here is wonderful, beautiful and well worth it.

Stayed here for two nights with my family and it was perfect! The staff were incredibly friendly…read moreand helpful. They anticipated every need and had a wealth of knowledge. The location was unbeatable and close to incredible restaurants and shops. Also, the breakfast was the best I've ever had at a hotel. Highly recommend!

Stayed in this beautiful hotel for a week on business, and it was perfect. Service was friend,…read moreattentive, and efficient. I had a single room, but with plenty of room to spread out and work in the evening. The hotel is immediately next door to the funicular, so getting to and from the train station is very easy. It's also in a pedestrian area, within easy walking distance of excellent restaurants and shopping, as well as beautiful sights. The highlight of this hotel was the breakfast - simply the most amazing variety of food and beverages I have ever seen at a hotel.