TravelingDeac

My husband and I are traveling to Northern Italy at the end of March. We plan to stay in Milan, Venice, Florence, and Como. We have a travel agent helping us book the trip, but he has never been to Italy, so all of his information is second-hand. We've never been to Italy, either, so I could really use some recommendations for Hotels. Here are some of the options he has mentioned for each of the cities. Does anyone know anything about any of these hotels? We are looking for a nice, clean place to stay--minimum 3 star. We don't plan to be spending tons of time at our hotel, so we don't require luxury, but we would like to stay at a nice place. As you will be able to see, he has given us many options, but none of these hotels are reviewed in the Fodor's we have or online, as best I can tell. I would really appreciate any input anyone could offer or optional recommendations. Thanks, so much!

Milan Options:
Bavaria Hotel
Hotel King
Starhotel Rosa
Best Western

Venice Options:
Hotel a la Commedia
San Marco Palace Suites
Torre dell Orologio
Hotel Ca dei Conte

Florence:
Hotel Cellai
Hotel Plaza Lucchesi
Hotel Degli Orofi
Hotel Goldini
Hotel Balestri

Como:
Terminus--the review for this looked great!

ellenem

Are you planning to stay in the city of Como or are you actually interested in the dramatically more scenic mid-lake area near Bellagio, Menaggio, and Varenna? Since your travel agent has no personal knowledge, I wanted to make sure he was suggesting the correct location to you.

TravelingDeac

I think our plan was to stay in Como, but it sounds like the Bellagio, Menaggio, and Varenna area might be more appealing. Would you recommend one over the other? I am open to suggestions.

greg

It depends on why you are in the lake area in the first place. Como is a good size city, little lake, some mountains. The other places mentioned are small town (well not Menaggio), large lake, high mountains, and lake side villas with gardens.

Look up pictures of mid-lake area vs. Como area to see it for yourself. The wedding scene and the end of the Star Wars: Attack of the Clones as well as the James Bond: Casino Royale with Daniel Craig show the Villa del Balbianello near Lenno -- of course with digital corrections.

TravelingDeac

Thanks, I will check it out. Since we are hitting big cities everywhere else we go, we were hoping Como would be our low-key, more quaint locale. Is that accurate, at least in comparison to Milan, Venice, and Florence? I had no idea about the Star Wars connection. My husband will love that!

kfusto

I stayed in Venice Options at Hotel a la Commedia and it is a very nice hotel - the beds were really hard though if that matters to you. It is well located and rooms and public spaces lovely.

I stayed at the Lucchesi also and like the hotel. We had a room on the Arno which was very pleasant and I like the location, which is out of the crowded center. The Balestri is a hotel I have visited but not stayed in and the renovated rooms are quite nice.

In Milan there are a number of Best Westerns so you will need to be more specific. I like Le Meridien and Melia Milano hotels there and would recommend either with Melia being more luxurious and in a better location.

Byrd

We stayed in the Ca dei Conti in Venice several years ago on a trip with three other couples, and we all loved it. Our rooms were large and pretty, and overlooked a little canal frequented by gondolieres.

It's a small hotel in a quiet location, but is an easy walk to San Marco.

http://www.cadeiconti.com/

Our room was the one decorated in green. One couple with us had the "blue room."

We've been to Venice a number of times, and the Ca dei Conti remains our favorite hotel.

We have also stayed at the Plaza Lucchesi in Florence. It's a larger hotel, right on the Arno, and we enjoyed it, too.

http://www.plazalucchesi.it/

Have a wonderful trip!

Byrd

nytraveler

I know this is none of my business but why in the world would you engage a travel agent who had never been to Italy to book an Italian trip for you? It seems to me the first thing you would look for is an agent who has been to Italy often and would have a lot of personal experience with the places you are going.

It sounds like he doesn;t know any more than you do - and should stick to booking Disney packages.

TravelingDeac

I know. I does sound crazy. It is someone who we have a previous relationship with and has helped us with other trips. The destinations have just never been so unknown to us. I think his sources are reliable, and he has been very helpful. He's been doing this a while and has lots of contacts, I just wanted some first-hand info before we finalized everything.

Dayle

TravelingDeac,

You will get much more knowledgeable help here. There is no reason to use someone who has never even been to Italy. Don't feel obligated, its his business and if he isn't qualified in a certain area, if he was really good - he would refer you to someone who was.

Sorry to be so blunt, just my opinion.

annienan

Hi TravelingDeac - I am contemplating my next trip to Europe and would really like to visit Italy but preferably stay away from the big cities and tourist areas. I've done a big city trip several years ago. What made you decide to travel to Italy? and not France or Germany or Switzerland etc. Please share your itinerary when you finally put it together.

anneeby

Go to Tripadvisor.com and look up highly rated hotels in the cities you are visiting. Especially read the bad reviews. You can discover a lot of valuable information that your travel agent can't provide.

KarenE

Do not stay in Como. Stay in Bellagio, it is SO much nicer! You can travel around with the little ferries from there, a lot of fun. My suggestion for Bellagio: http://www.residencelalimonera.com/node/9 Take apartment #31. It´s the only one with an amazing (!) view.

KarenE

Hotel a la Commedia is ok, the others are to be avoided.

KarenE

My previous post of course is related to your Venice hotel options.

Lexma90

I would use something like google maps to check out the locations of the recommended hotels (for example, in Florence I prefer to stay closer to the Arno; in Venice I like the Canneregio, the nearer Castello), and tripadvisor to check reviews on people who stayed at those hotels (I'm not familiar with any of those mentioned, but they're a higher price point than I usually stay in). Of course, once you've done all this checking out, you could have done all the research yourself.

Jean

I would order your itinerary: Florence, Venice, Lake Como, Milan to put you at the lake as late as possible. You can reach Florence in about three hours after clearing passport control at Malpensa.

I also prefer the mid-lake area of Lake Como, generally, Menaggio, Bellagio and Varenna. At the end of March, some hotels and restaurants in Bellagio and Varenna will still be closed, and gardens may still be rather colorless unless temps really pick up by then. (Still freezing temps overnight and snow in the 10-day forecast for Bellagio.) You may find more available options to choose from in Menaggio, but I would look first in Bellagio and Varenna.

As far as hotels go, you mention the usual parameter of a "minimum of 3 stars." Don't get hung up on the number of stars as they relate to the number of services and amenities offered, including things you likely/possibly won't care about like on-site meeting facilities, parking, a gym, air conditioning, etc. Focus on the things you actually do want or need, like perhaps free wi-fi, elevator, room service, etc. You can often find what you want in a well-reviewed hotel with fewer than 3 stars.

I have no experience with the hotels on your list, but a few comments on Milan...

Milan is expensive, and you may find you need to spend a little more. I don't like the location of the Bavaria in Milan. It's not "bad," but it's just not interesting or very close to the main tourist sights. Hotel King is better located, and Starhotel Rosa better still. Best Western can often be a good option in Europe, but I don't like the locations of 6-7 BWs that are closest to the city center.

TravelingDeac

Thank you, all, for your responses! You offered some great insight. I really appreciate it! We're excited about our trip, and I'll be sure to post our itinerary once it's finalized. Thanks for taking the time to share your knowledge and experiences.