I am going to Lake como area in September with my mum for a few nights. I have never been to that part of Italy before and would like any suggestions on good hotels. I have been recommended Hotel Royal Victoria in Varenna by my travel agent, but read a bad review on it on Fodors. I've also read that Eremo Gaudio, Hotel du lac and Villa Balbionello are good hotels. Can anyone recommend one over the other?

Villa Balbi<b>a</b>nello is an attraction, not a hotel. And it's one of the most worthwhile things to &quot;see&quot; during a visit to Lake Como (but a visit to Lake Como is not so much about &quot;seeing&quot; - - or for that matter... &quot;doing&quot; anything)...

Search &quot;Eremo&quot; or &quot;Belvedere&quot; or &quot;Menaggio&quot; here on this forum, and you will find a plethora of information on lodging in the three principal towns of the &quot;mid-lake&quot;: Bellagio, Varenna and Menaggio.

There is a Grand Hotel <i><b>Victoria</b></i> Menaggio (not to be confused with the hotel called simply &quot;Grand Hotel Menaggio&quot in, obviously... Menaggio, and I have never heard of a Hotel Royal Victoria in Varenna (that doesn't mean that it doesn't exist).

I have stayed in the GH<b>V</b>M and I can tell you that there are <u>some</u> fair/mediocre/poor rooms there (but not all) - - there seems to be a consensus that of the two with the similar names GHM is better than GHVM.

Best wishes,

Rex

The Royal victoria is directly on the sort of main square of varenna, across from the church. But since the square is not on the lake (the hotel may have lake views for the rooms at the back of the hotel, I don't know about that) I'd say to try to book another hotel. We have stayed at the GH Victoria in Menaggio and the GH Menaggio in Menaggio. We like them both. I booked friends into the Du Lac in Varenna and they loved that (be sure to get a lake view room) Other good options identified on this board include the Belvedere in Bellagio and the Florence in Bellagio. You'll love Lake Como and its towns.

Hello Suki, Rex has given you all you need to know about Menaggio, but your question is about Varenna. Here is the page you want to look at hotels in Varenna---the Du Lac would be my choice
http://www.varennaitaly.com/english.html

Having labored over this issue several years ago before our first trip there, we finally eliminated the Belvedere as being too much of an uphill walk from the lakefront docks of Bellagio, especially in the dark late at night. We decided we wanted Bellagio, rather than the other towns on either side of the lake (although they would be fine too, of course). We finally decided on Hotel du Lac in Bellagio, not to be confused with a hotel of the same name in Varenna. We had a huge room facing the lake and loved our location right by the lake, but the hotel was a bit dowdy and characterless. Before we left the town we scoured most of the local hotels and firmly decided next trip we would stay in the delightful and very character filled Hotel Florence in Bellagio. In fact, as soon as they start accepting reservations for June of 2006, I'll be reserving our room there.

The only possible drawback I see is that it is not air-conditioned, but I'm not worrying about that right on the lake in June.

http://www.bellagio.co.nz/florence/Florence.html

bobthenavigator was posting while I was composing. Maybe I misunderstood. I didnt' realize you meant you are only looking for Varenna, but that a hotel in Varenna was recommended. Varenna is quite pretty, but my choice for more activity in the evenings and more restaurant choices without having to cross the lake at night is Bellagio. If you are set on Varenna, there is nothing wrong with that, a most charming little village.

Actually if you can stay at Villa Balbionello I'd jump at it -- the prettiest private villa on all of Lake Como in my opionion, but I'm unaware of a hotel by that name.

Patrick makes a good point about the Florence. We've not stayed there, but we've eaten there--both in their wisteria covered outdoor terrace across the street from the hotel and directly on the lake and in their charming, old world dining room with fireplace and ladderback chairs and wonderful food--and we've had many a drink in their delightful bar, one of my favorites in the whole world.

I am probably the one that posts bad things about the Hotel Royal Victoria. I have copied an earlier post of why I don't recommend this hotel, but I just wanted to say that this all happened in September, apparently when the Grand Prix is, in Monza, which isn't very far away, if this is when your trip is, I would DOUBLE not recommend it:

I would not pick Royal Victoria in Varenna. We had a very bad experience with them, if you do a search here you will find my other posts about this hotel. To not rewrite the whole story, we made reservations 6 months in advance for my 50th birthday, reserving a nice room with balcony, we really wanted a swimming pool to relax by, blahblahblah, and 2or3 weeks before we were to arrive, they sent an email with a long draw out story and were cancelling our reservation, offering us a room at their other hotel, which actually I think was the Grand Hotel Menaggio but not sure, at double the price, $400. After many emails both in english and italian, they wouldn't budge BUT offered us a free lunch if we wanted to stop by...you must be kidding. Later, we found out that the Grand Prix was that weekend and they had a group coming in for it and they just flat out got rid of us. I can't say enough bad things about their tactics. One of their stories was that they had lost electriciy during a storm and had lost my reservation...well if that happened how did they still have my email address to contact me and know which days they wanted to cancel...please, stay somewhere else. I hear the Hotel du Lac in Varenna is very nice.

Do yourself a favor: if you can afford it, stay at thje DuLac in Varenna in a lakeview room. Be aware that Varenna is probably much more typical of a small Italian town and the place kinda closes up at sundown except for the restaurants.

Menaggio is the largest, geographically, of the three and has a livlier nightlife than Varenna but that nightlife consists mainly of restaurants/bars and the wonderful gelatto stand in the middle of the &quot;town square&quot; area.

There is also another lakeview property in Menaggio besides the Grand Hotel and the Grand Hotel Victoria which might fit your budget better: the Bella Vista.


Bellagio has been well-described already (and a LOT of people will be over there and there will be more things open at night). But don't get the idea that just because Bellagio is quite popular that you are going to have the shopping and entertainment opportunities of a city because you won't get that in ANY of these three places. (There are only so many times you can look at some of those high-end shops [and lesser-end shops in Varenna and Menaggio] until you've figured out you aren't interested or that you've bought eveything already!

Enjoy the lake..it is a wonderful place to just BE.

I would suggest taking a look at the Hotel Bellagio which is owned by the Hotel du lac. It is a two-star hotel that has recently been redone from top to bottom. Located up a few stairs from the piazza. Rooms are not particularly large but very nice and the staff is great, too. Recommend taking a room on a higher floor with balcony for great views. Hotel is air-conditioned as well which came in very handy during our recent stay. Hotel website is www.hotelbellagio.it

I would like to suggest Villa Cipressi in Varenna. The grounds and gardens are lovely, and so are the views. You really &quot;feel&quot; lake Como when you walk into the lobby. The rooms are not particularly special, but they are absolutely fine and the overall feel and convenience is much better then Hotel Eremo up the hill.

I stayed at the Grand Hotel Mennagio. It's great for families because you can get rooms that can fit four or more people. It had air conditioning, which was lucky for us when the heat wave in 2003 hit Europe. It is easy to cross the lake to Bellagio and Varenna on the ferry, which I recall is walking distance from the hotel.

We were in Varenna in June and &quot;ducked&quot; into the Villa Cipresi. They told us that their rate for a triple was $170 per night. The Cipresi has a fantastic looking lobby and grounds.

Check out the Albergo Milano in Varenna. Wonderful small inn -- just 6 (or 8?) rooms, two with lovely large patios overlooking the lake (140 euros in high season), and the other rooms with side views of the lake and tiny terraces (but also nice, 125 euros!). Rooms are smallish, but well equipped. The owners are very helpful. Breakfast is served in either the small dining room or another nice patio right over the lake. Dinner is available -- we ate there one evening and enjoyed it. I highly recommend this charming small hotel.

You've been given many good recommendations and comments for Varenna, Bellagio and Menaggio. I can second the recommendations for the Hotel Florence in Bellagio and the Hotel du Lac in Varenna, both places where we have stayed more than once.

I am not familiar with the Eremo Gaudio, but someone on this forum recently stayed there and enjoyed it very much. Do a search to read that person's comments. Note that this hotel is not in the central area of Varenna.

As far as which town has more evening action, it really doesn't matter. You can spend the evening in any of the towns and return to Varenna on the last ferry. Just make sure you confirm the time of that last ferry from wherever you are to Varenna. If you miss the ferry, (excuse the pun) you're sunk.

Thanks everyone for your helpful tips. Jean, as you have stayed in both Veranna and Bellagio, which one of the two did you prefer? I don't know which is better to stay at, Veranna or Bellagio.

Hi Suki,
I stayed in Varenna, not Bellagio, but visited both. Bellagio has more restaurants, more shops and more tourists. Varenna is quieter, and very charming, but has only 3 or 4 good restaurants, and very few shops.

also, I think Varenna might be easier to get to by train, so if you are not driving, it may be prefereable.

I stayed at the Hotel Du Lac in Varenna, and I loved it. You can probably find my review here somewhere. I think you will be happy with either town.

Varenna has THE only rail station (if you are traveling in that mode) but it is an easy walk (10 minutes all downhill) to the ferry dock for trips over to either Bellagio or Menaggio.

I agree totally with China-cat's recommendations. I've stayed at the DuLac in Varenna and the Grand Hotel Victoria in Menaggio...you'll probably be happy enough wherever you stay (tow-wise) but would definitely agree that there will be more going on after dark in Bellagio (as I stated earlier) and there are definitely more places to shop in Bellagio than in the other two towns combined.

After visiting Varenna, Bellagio and Menaggio last month, we were pleased with our choice to stay in Bellagio. We found Varenna to be too small and Menaggio to be not quite quaint enough. In early May Bellagio didn't seem to be overrun with tourists. That said, all three towns are lovely and there are different aspects that appeal to different folks.

We stayed at the Hotel Belvedere in Bellagio. The hill is not necessarily fun with luggage, but it's a 10-min walk from the action and we found the views to be worth it. If you have more luggage than you can handle dragging uphill, I would not recommend this place if you don't have a car.

We popped into both the Hotel Florence and Hotel Du Lac in Bellagio for espressos. While I can't comment on a hotel stay there as we didn't experience one, the general impression we got is in line with what Patrick said earlier. If we went back again, I would definitely prefer to stay at the Hotel Florence.

One thought regarding the &quot;crowds&quot; in Bellagio. If you're like most of us, your daytimes are likely to spent out visiting other towns and villas on the lake. That's when Bellagio is at its busiest. At night it is much quieter. Sometimes I think that those who stay elsewhere on the lake, only visit Bellagio during the busy daytime with all the other &quot;daytrippers&quot; so when they report back how crowded Bellagio is, that's because they weren't staying there, but joining the other tourists at its busiest times.