Does anyone have a review of Grand Hotel Villa Serbelloni in Bellagio? <BR> <BR>

If you've got the money, they've got the luxury. Very elegant, very formal, beautiful gardens, great pool area facing the lake. Their web site has lots of photos of the interior. We, however, stayed next door at the Hotel Florence for about 1/4 the price for the same view in albeit a more modest room.

Ray <BR> <BR>Big sis lived in an apartment at the gates to Serbelloni for a year. Here's an excerpt from my journal during a trip there in 1999: <BR> <BR>Eventually we made our way back up those silly steps, which incidentally were exactly one and a half paces wide each, so you had to keep changing your step to satisfy whoever built them. Beyond the town lay the villa and big gardens (and even bigger gates) of Serbelloni, a local bigwig who took over the running of the place in 1788 and spent almost his entire fortune on the villa and grounds. The whole place, which occupies at least a third of all groundspace in Bellagio (and with the best views), was acquired by the Rockefeller foundation in 1915 and is now a hotel. Passing this, we discovered a small, unkempt park and wandered down through the undergrowth with the help of David Bellamy, and arrived back near the ferry terminal. Strolling southwards and out of town, we passed what at one time must have been quite the most grandiose building this side of the Taj Mahal. This was the ill-fated Hotel Grande Bretagne, a 19th century mansion which now wouldn’t look out of place in Havana or Port au Prince. To give you an idea of the wealth of the place, the Grande Bretagne owned Villa Serbelloni – the biggest owner of land in Bellagio - and used it as an annexe. At its height, the hotel offered guests a standard of luxury comparable to anything else in Europe at the time. Ava Gardner and Frank Sinatra stayed at the Grande Bretagne – now a rotting husk – which is currently on the market for about £400 000, and it would cost that and more to bring it up to anything like its former glory. <BR> <BR>They've got electric gates too! <BR> <BR>regards

Tony & Anita, <BR>Thank you both for taking the time to answer my request. You have both been very helpful. <BR> <BR>Ray

Hi Ray, <BR> <BR>The Grand Hotel Villa Serbelloni is different from the Villa Serbelloni. The former is a hotel while the latter is a conference and leave-taking center for the Rockefeller Foundation. Anita's description corresponds to the Villa Serbelloni which is closed to the public (except for tours of the grounds). As for the hotel, I"ve heard that it's very elegant. However, if you are looking for a less expensive place to stay in Bellagio, try the Belvedere Hotel which is just a ten minutes walk to the town center. I stayed at teh Bellagio in 1998 and loved it. The staff is wonderful, the food great and they even have a pool. <BR> <BR>

Ray, The GH Serbelloni is overpriced but lovely and enjoys the best location<BR>perhaps in all of Europe. I have had reports from clients about arrogance by the staff. There are 3 good 3 star hotels in Bellagio that are more than adequate for me---all about $140 for a decent double room. Two of them are within 100 meters of the GHS, and the other is the Belvedere mentioned above. I like it best.It is your money.

Bob & Kathy, <BR> <BR>Thank you for the information, it has been very helpful. <BR> <BR>Ray

Here's another solid endorsement for the Belevedere. We stayed there two months. Besides the comments already, another great thing about the Belevedere is the view of the lake from your room. Magnificent. <BR>The hotel has a website: belvedere/bellagio.com <BR>Its email adddress is [email protected]

Hi Ray. I stayed at the Grand Hotel Villa Serbelloni and absolutely HATED it! The staff was extremely rude, and our room was disgusting. I loved Bellagio and would go back in a heartbeat, but I would never stay at that hotel again.