I am traveling to Italy in July. I already tried to book 2 hotels that were recommended and they were full! Those hotels were Hotel Du Lac and Albergo Milano, both in Varenna. both had gorgeous lake views from balconies. Any other hotels to recommend??

Try this: http://www.slowtrav.com/italy/hotels...asp?r=Lombardy

You might consider the Grand Hotel or even the Grand Hotel Victoria in Menaggio or even the BellaVista..

yes, I know they aren't in Varenna but they all have great views of the lake...

and what about hotels in Bellagio?

http://www.grandhoteltremezzo.com/

We absolutely loved our 10 day stay in this hotel next door to the Villa Carlotta, directly across the lake from Bellagio.

The restaurant on the balcony with stunning views of the lake was great for breakfast and dinner.

There was a big hill to hike up at the rear of the hotel with beautiful views of Belliago, especially at sunset when Belliago just "glowed" in the distance.

Another favorite restaurant if you stay there was about a 10 min. drive on a hill overlooking the lake. "Al Veluu" was one of my (no make that 2 as we went there twice) dinners in all of Europe.
www.alveluu.com
I see they also have rooms there, but we didn't check them out.

Try Hotel Florence in Bellagio.

Hotel Belvedere in Bellagio has worked great for me several times. 5-7 minute walk up the hill, but that gets you a quiet atmosphere, and many of the rooms have great views of the lake. I like the terrace rooms in the back with views of Varenna, and the pool and jacuzzi are wonderful with great views overlooking the lake too.
39-031-950-410 www.belvederebellagio.com

Check out Hotel Bellagio (in Bellagio). Request a 4th floor room for a spectacular lake view!

www.hotelbellagio.it

In my experience, hotels at Lake Como are heavily overpriced (because they are spoilt by American tourists who are willing to pay twice the rates which would be acceptable for Europeans).

I never understood why the view from the hotel window should be important. You will see the lake the whole day - from the road, from the boat, from the terrace. Thus no need to spend extra money for a room with lake view.

We stayed at Grand Hotel Tremezzo Palace and found it grossly overpriced. The restaurant was expensive and really bad. After the first evening, we went to Hotel Darseno which has an excellent restaurant (with the same wines at half price).

An additional thought. We stayed in Menaggio (I'm trying to remember the name) I was so excited..we had a balcony and a great view of the lake. The family who ran it were nice the breakfasts very good BUT it was Incredibly HOT in June (2008)
There was no ceiling fan and the only way you could get a breeze was to open the door of the room...but of course we couldn't do that at night. So we sweated to the loud voices below us of the restaurant employees enjoying after work conversation. My husband even tried sleeping on the balcony after the loud voices finally subsided but it was still too hot to sleep!

In Varenna, you might contact the Royal Victoria or The Cipressi.

The website Mennagio.com has a thorough list altho' the postings above covered it fully.

Some people like the Albergo Lenno (in the town of Lenno).

Do you need to be in Varenna?
Do you want comments on some of the less expensive options?

You might research the Eremo Gaudi (Varenna) but be aware the location is actually a short distance south of Varenna.

Eremo Gaudi in Verenna. Nothing fancy but absolutely gorgeous views.

Rumor has it that a major wedding is taking over the town of Varenna in early July. Also, International Center of Photography in NYC is holding their biannual photography workshop in Varenna from the 4th to the 14th. It's home base is the Cipressi and it's a very popular international event. Accommodations will be difficult in Varenna for July 2010.

In Bellagio, La Pergola is off the beaten path but right on the water. Has a nice restaurant, is family owned. Not luxurious but we had a great time there.

If you want a simple clean family run hotel, which is really good value €55 Euro a night last time I looked, then the Tre Rose in Nesso is just lovely. It has incredible lake views and a great restaurant also. Room 22 has a balcony overlooking the lake. The village is about half way between Como and Bellagio...

http://www.trerosehotel.com/hoteltre...lese/home.html

http://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/Hotel_R..._Lombardy.html

ccarpenter,

If you use the venere.com website, you can see every hotels availability in your time frame, plus get hundreds of current user reviews -- really important. A lot of message board recs aren't current. Years old.

http://www.venere.com/italy/lake-como/?ref=1278872

We walked by the Raffaello Hotel when we were in Rome. I am sure that they would call you a cab in the morning when you are checking out. I don't know any hotel that wouldn't do that for you. Stop worrying about getting to and from the airport. Millions of people get to and from Fiumicino without their heads falling off.

Thin

I don't know how this post got to this thread. LOL.

There must be ghosts about.

Thin

A second vote for Hotel Belvedere. We had magnificent views from our top floor room.

In Bellagio: www.residencelalimonera.com