We are travelling to Italy September 2006 and looking for the perfect hotel to stay in Bellagio. At the moment I am tossing up between the Hotel Metropole, Hotel Florence and the Belvedere. We won't have a car in this area and intend travelling to all the towns on the lake by ferry. I am leaning towards the Metropole and would like to hear from anyone that has stayed there recently regarding the rooms....are the terrace rooms really nice?
We will only be there 3 nights, so I am open to day trip suggestions as well. Also 3 best restaurants to eat in the evening.

Here are 2 restaurants that are widely recommended by Fodorites. We enjoyed both of them a lot:

Bilacus and Trattoria San Giacomo

We enjoyed the Belvedere and had a suite on the top floor with a terrace and balconies. The views were incredible. It is away from the hustle and bustle of the waterfont and the ferry docks but only a short walk into the village.
Best dining;The best restaurant in town is Barchetta, reservations required. We also enjoyed Bilacus and Pergola.

Another endorsement of both the Belvedere for sleeping and the Bilacus for dining.

glenn_col,

We stayed in a terrace room at the Metropole in April 2005 & liked it very much.

Here is a link to my trip report which includes my thoughts on the Metropole;

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

I also posted a couple of photos on tripadvisor & you can find them here;

http://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowUserR..._Lombardy.html

Jim

Thanks Jim and everyone else,
I had read your report on trip advisor but was hoping more fodorites may also post their experiences there. Needles to say, I have gone ahead and booked the Metropole, and have asked for one of the front terrace rooms...hope I can get it. Couldn't justify the extra euro's for the Belvedere, even though it comes highly recommended. We don't get many euro's for our Aussie dollar.
Glenn

I stayed at the Florence in a lovely lake view room and would prefer to stay there again over the Belvedere if I wasn't arriving by car. With a car, probably the Belvedere because it has parking.

Re restaurants, I enjoyed Bilacus but thought I had a better meal on the lakeside garden terrace at the Florence.