Bellagio Hotel Choice
 

Hello everyone,
I need help in choosing one of these three hotels for 4 nights in May. Would really appreciate your comments again, as you have already helped me in choosing my hotel in Venice(La Calcina) and Florence(Hotel Casci).
Hotel Metropole
Hotel Florence
Hotel Du Lac
Thank you so much for any advice(: Genie

Florence. It has a nice position (although they all do), a great bar, a good restaurant. Just good all the way around. I'm guessing it's also the most expensive, however.

You'll probably get a more specific answer if you specify what you value in a hotel -- character? View? Quiet? Friendly staff? Parking? Right in the middle of things or something a bit more removed?

Also, it's good policy to double check the recommendations here against user reviews on Tripadvisor, Venere, etc. Most of us only have one experience of one hotel.

Thank you julie,Hotel Florence probably is the most expensive.They e-mailed me and won't take reservations until November. Looks beautiful though!

Thank you Nessundorma, I've narrowed it to these three hotels because they are "in the middle of things", they all have a fabulous "view" and "character". We won't need parking.
I have read user reviews on tripadvisor,that's why I like these hotels. For my hotel advice earlier, for Venice and Florence, many Fodorites had stayed at both hotels.
I'm just wanting to find out if anyone has stayed at these hotels and what they did or did not like about it.
Thanks Again (:

We stayed at the Hotel Florence in 2001 for 4 nights. Loved it! Great location, lovely furnishings, nice restaurant. We had a room overlooking the lake and the view was spectacular.

Is air conditioning (or lack thereof) an issue for you?

Hi Dukey, We will be there the second week in May, so I don't think air conditioning will be an issue, do you?
I'm hoping for cool weather. Genie

I would vote for the Florence as well. When I stayed there in mid-May, airco wasn't needed, in fact, they had just stopped using the lobby fireplace. But you never know when an early heat wave will strike.
Reserve a lake view room if possible. I loved my room with its little balcony and view of the lake. And don't forget you get (or used to get) an 8% discount for paying in cash.

I've stayed at both the Florence and the Du Lac. The Florence is a nicer hotel, but the Du Lac was fine for me and the price was better. Both have downstairs bars, but the Du Lac bar is very popular, which made it more fun and interesting for people watching. The Du Lac has a great breakfast.

Make sure you request a room with a lake view. The locations of these hotels are about the same.

To answer your question: at that time of year I would agree that A/C can probably be done without..and that is a great time of year to be there, too..not as crowded but with enough folks around to make it interesting (at least in my own experience).

Another vote for the Florence. We were at Lake Como in May. The weather was perfect and no A/C was needed. This area is beautiful at that time. Enjoy.

Genie,

We stayed in the Metropole in April 2005 & were very happy with it. Here's a link to my trip report with more information;

http://www.fodors.com/forums/threads...p;tid=34598121

Jim

We loved the Florence--a lake view room with balcony. I have looked at the website for the Hotel Du Lac because it has received so many good reviews but the rooms themselves seem to lack any style. We will be re-booking at the Florence for our next trip.

We stayed at the Hotel Florence in late June. We had Room 24, a corner room with two balconies, just lovely. Great location and terrific restaurant and bar. I would highly recommend it as long as you don't need a/c, can't imagine you would need it in May

We stayed in room 24 as well and it is a lovely room. We were there in the middle of June and wished we had air conditioning. We did have a fan. Heat should not be a worry in May.

I have also stayed in the Hotel Casci in Florence and liked it as well.

I had room 22, which is one of their smaller rooms, but was still spacious. It was billed as having only a partial lake view, but in fact was nearly a full lake view. Very pleasant and slightly off the main street, so it was a little quieter than the full lake view rooms (although it wasn't noisy at night anyway).
Note: the Hotel Florence is very popular, usually full, and when you book a room, you will probably be assigned a specific room at the time of your reservation. This is NOT one of those hotels where you can expect to have a variety of rooms to choose from upon check-in.