It's certainly a beautiful hotel, but I wonder about the lack of external views. If I ran a hotel and the outside looked like the place Steve pictured, I'd surely put a picture (or several) on the website.

It gets a terrific review on TA, that mentions a 5-minute bus ride to Portofino! (Also gets a bad review but I would take that one with a grain of salt) I "saved" it on my TA list!

I think it looks fantastic! Good job, Byrd!

I don't think it's the same, Byrd.

Under 'Info' your website has a map showing the location of that hotel at one end of the beach.

My pic is another 200m along the corniche road towards SML if I remember ...

Steve

I agree. This does not appear to be quite the same location.

This whole area looks so beautiful! We've been to the Cinque Terre, but not to the places described in this thread.

But I think that is about to change!

Byrd

It's not that Genoa is a bad place, it's that you are so close to several spots that are really spectacular.

Genoa is an industrial town. The only thing your friend will see of the port is a bunch of towering cranes.

Several trains service Malpensa from the Lakes region, but a car is a good idea. A trip divided between the Ligurian Coast and the Lake region should be wonderful.

As I said above, I would stay in either SML or Camogli (not both) for 4-5 nights and spend the rest of the time at the Lakes...that would be a great trip.

We have just returned from a trip to Italy: Rome, CT, Verona and a cruise out of Genoa with friends where we spent a night + Salzburg and Munich. We enjoyed Genoa very much. It has a very nice shopping area, medieval streets, and a lovely harbor to walk along. Not just cranes. I would compare it favorably with Naples or Palermo. We liked it much better than expected. We stayed at the Hotel Soana. Nice people and good location. Reasonable price. You can walk there in less than ten minutes from Brignole train station along the pedestrian street. A little farther away is Station Principe.

I know people feel the CT is over crowded but I would serously consider staying there to have access to the trails and atmosphere. It is very different from taking a train for an hour or so through tunnels. We stayed at La Torretta in Manarola for 3 nights. A beautful if small room with a terrace overlooking the Med. for 110 Euros a night. A great breakfast on the common terrace. We were there at a very busy time between liberation day weekend and May day but evening in Manarola was not at all busy if anything a bit quiet. We loved it and would return.

Thank you for the responses. I think we are committed to staying 3 nights in both Camogli and SML but I will present the idea to my friends of substituting the Lakes for Genoa. If we did do this, I would like to find a town in which we could drop the car and then take public transport to Malpensa... I was looking at Stresa...would staying there give us a good idea of the Lakes area?

Stresa has its fans here. I'm not one of them ...

Have you been to the lakes before, Eks? If not, personally I'd recommend Como (- or Lugano) rather than Maggiore.

Steve

Steve I have never been to the Italian Lakes but I've been, long ago, to the Lakes area in Switzerland. I have flown over Como, etc and they certainly look gorgeous from the plane!!


I am going to do some reading about Lake Como and also talk to my friends this weekend. Could you give me an idea of why you do not like Stresa and why Como would be better than Maggiore. Can I get any sort of local feel in this area or is it totally oriented toward tourists? I am not sure why this area never really piqued my interest...but of course I have much to learn!!

Well it did not take me long (reading Cadogan guide to Lombardy and the Lakes) to get the message that Lake Como, rather than Maggiore, is the place for visitors who have limited time. The town of Bellagio certainly sounds lovely!

ekscrunchy, the Italian Lake country is completely beautiful and very relaxing. Lake Como is perfect, especially the three towns in the middle which you can navigate among by lake steamer--Bellagio, Menaggio, and Varenna. There are lovely estates with gardens to visit and promenades along the water to walk along and quaint little bars to stop and sit at under arcades and wisteria.

We have stayed at Grand Hotel Victoria and GH Menaggio in Menaggio and at the Du Lac in Varenna. All are fine with the latter two possibly being a bit nicer than the former. The Bellavista (I believe in Bellagio) has its supporters as well. And the upscale grande dame is the Servelloni in Bellagio which is where Liz Taylor stayed while she was in town.

The Hotel Florence in Bellagio is lovely though a bit more old-fashioned than the others and without AC in some rooms, but it has a beautiful bar and a wonderful restaurant. Bilacus in Bellagion also has a loyal following. I love the high-ceilinged dining room of the GH Victoria and the mid-priced Bellavista in Menaggio has a decent restaurant where I first had my favorite Italian meal--pesto pasta and osso buco. enjoy.

Julie I was looking at the Hotel Florence in Bellagio. The price seems reasonable and they get excellent reviews on TA...

Do you think Bellagio would be a good choice?

It is only 3 hours driving time from SML to Bellagio according to ViaMichelin... I will do all the research and then present the idea to my travel companions..

Wow. Just checked their site and looks like they've done some remodeling since last I looked--though not the wonderful bar which was perfect just as it was. If you're not worried about the possible AC problem--and I'd certainly take a chance in late Sept.--I'd say go for it. The location can't be beat and Bellagio is a delightful place. Your travel companions should be delighted.

Thanks, Julie! I will see them this weekend and discuss our options...you have been a big help!

Because of the proximity of all the towns along the coast, I would choose either SML or camogli. Last year we stayed in rapallo and took the ferry to Portofino and SML. Loved SML-and then walked up the hill through beaches and a wonderfulo resort area and hopped a bus back to Rapallo. Did a day trip to cinque terre (did not want to miss this- and glad I did not)Fininshed up with a train trip to Milan and day trip to the como and bellagio. flew out of malpensa. I think we may have enjoyed Liguria even more than the amalfi coast. wonderful food great climate-very laid back. I wanted to include genoa but did not have time. I think now I would have included a day in turin, since it was along the train route. enjoy!!

..thanks, Misscarol. I am sure that our plan seems silly to most poeple, but we have finally decided to just split the stay on the coast between two hotels in the two different towns.

I booked the Cenobio dei Dogi for the first three nights and will book the SML hotel next week. It should not take us too long to pack up and move since the towns are so close and we would like to have the experience of staying in both places..I was driving myself crazy trying to decide and finally decided.. to make no decision between the two choices!

So now I can devote my time to deciding upon the merits of staying in:

Genoa

OR

Bellagio--(Hotel Florence????)

OR even

Lenno..(Albergo Lenno????) (Less crowded than Bellagio??)

Thanks to all of the informative responses here, we have all but decided to forego staying overnight in Genoa (we can visit on a day trip) and drive to the Lakes after 6 nights on the Ligurian coast.

I am looking into hotels in Bellagio and have written to the Hotel Florence. I also read the thread about the tourist crowds in Bellagio...should I be concerned? Would Lenno be a better option (Albergo Lenno??)

..or Hotel Belvedere in Bellagio?

With much helpful advice from posters here, we have a near-firm plan which will substitute the Lakes for overnighting in Genoa. (Will plan to visit Genoa on a day trip from SML):

3 nights Camogli..Cenobio
3 nights SML--Miramare (day trip to Genoa; day trip to CT)

4 nights Italian Lakes. Now considering Hotel Belvedere in Bellagio which is 5 minutes walk from town and will hopefully offer the quiet that my friends desire.

Question: Is Bellagio really the best place to stay in the Lake Como environs? (I liked Amalfi better than Positano if any inferences can be drawn from that...) (Looked at Lenno and Varenna very briefly....) My friends would like a fairly upscale hotel (not in the 5-star GL class, though)

The Hotel Belvedere has availability for a lakefront double for my friends and they will put me on a wait listg for a single room.....
Many thanks to everyone who is providing so much great advice!

Eks,

I only visted Lake Como for a day trip out of Milan. Unfortunately, it was a partly rainy day with low clouds and I didn't get to really enjoy the scenery.

Vernazza was tiny and charming, quiet. A flavor of a real local lake town. Bellagio was beautiful, but I thought very touristy. Not as touristy as Positano, just on a smaller scale. It seemed to be ALL tourists.

I think I would enjoy staying there IF I was out of town a bit, but not at one of the hotels right in thick of things.

FYI - some good friends visited the lakes during their 3rd trip to Italy last August. When they arrived at their hotel in Limone, they promptly cancelled all the rest of their reservations (Tuscany - where they had visited before) and stayed right there for the rest of the 10 days left. They said it was paradise - and almost NO tourists except for them.

They are a couple who likes to stay in small, nearly unknown towns and who speak Italian fairly well.

I don't know how much there is to do at that end of the lake. They spent most of their days doing some serious road cycling.

Hope this helps!

Did you look at hotel du lac in Varenna? varenna is easily the quietest of the 3 towns and the Du Lac is quite nice though I don't really know the Belvedere but perhaps someone else who knows both can make a comparison for you. See their website at albergodulac.com. Unfortunately I don't think the website does justice to the place. Good luck

ttt

The Hotel Belvedere is on the hillside directly above Bellagio. It has great views but is not on the lakefront.

If you liked Amalfi, you might prefer Menaggio as a place to stay. Varenna is very small, Bellagio is on the luxe side. Menaggio is bigger and more of a real town.

Eks - 'If you liked Amalfi, you might prefer Menaggio'

I second Mimar's suggestion ...

Steve

And in Menaggio you have two very nice hotels to choice between--GH Victoria and GH Menaggio. The latter is "newer" and more modern, the former more old world and a bit more elegant with high ceilings, etc. Latter directly on the lakeshore, former across the street from it. both have pools and dining.

Thanks, all! I am going to take a look at the two places in Menaggio and report back soon!!

Hi, about 8 years ago I stayed about two weeks at the Victoria in Menaggio and really loved it. We had lakeview rooms and the staff was excellent.

I agree too that Menaggio is a bit like Amalfi in comparisons to other towns. You can take the boat and visit all the other towns or hire a car like we did.

Another wonderful trip you are planning!!

I took a look at the Victoria in Menaggio and it looks nice, although I am a little troubled by some of the TA reviews. We have reservations already in Bellagio at the Belvedere, but I am on the "waiting list" for a single room
(have reserved a double for single use..very pricey at 236 Euro with B&B).

Will write today to the Victoria and discuss the possibility of changing with my friends. And report back!! Many thanks, everyone!

More questions:

If we decide to keep our reservations in Bellagio (I need to discuss with my companions), will it be easy to ferry across to, for example, Menaggio for dinner? Menaggio, being less obviously oriented toward upscale tourists than Bellagio, appeals more to me, but the hotel options appear to be more limited. What about the scenic appeal of the two towns? Is Bellagio much more beautiful? Does it have much better ferry connections for day trips?

We just returned from a trip that included 4 nights in SML, so I wanted to give you a couple of restaurant recommendations. Trattoria Cesarina was great, and a fun experience for us. They don't have a written menu and just tell you what your options are for the night. We had a wonderful dinner there with a ravioli in butter sage sauce that my husband is still thinking about. Ristorante Antonio was recommended by our hotel and also good. We had dinner at Oca Bianca, which I do not recommend. It was our most expensive meal of the trip and the most disappointing. Other than one pasta dish, the food was below average.

And about SML beaches - there are plenty of places to swim and rent beach chairs. The beaches are not sandy but not big rocks, they are small stones like on the Amalfi Coast. This was true of both SML and the beach we were on in Camogli. Monterroso had a nice beach just outside the train station where I waded and my husband went for a swim. I do recommended a day trip to the Cinque Terre, we enjoyed the hikes and views. Yes, there were tourists but I didn't find it overwhelming. I hope to start a trip report soon with more details.

Eks - I actually think Menaggio is the nicer town and the views are better.

For ferry timetables see:

http://www.navigazionelaghi.it/eng/com/nlc_ora.html

For trips I don't think it makes much difference ...

Steve

P.S. Here's a slideshow to give you an idea:

http://tinyurl.com/4wogwc

Steve

Eks, the Victoria is really lovely, I think the mixed reviews are because they have not decorated their rooms! I have no idea why they are so barren. At first I thought it was just our room and then I saw that the others were the same. The rooms are very clean but just not nicely decorated, not badly decorated, just....not decorated! But from Menaggio you get the views of the other towns such as Bellagio.

Now I am going to look at Steve James' slide show.

Ninkette thank you for those recommendations!

One look at Steve's slideshow has convinced me! I am writing right now to the Victoria! I hope they have room, and that my friends will be on board with this idea!

And if for any reason you can't get into the Victoria, you can safely try the alternative in town--the Grand Hotel Menaggio which is the yellow building to the left of the ferry in the pictures of the waterfront.

Steve, you truly captured Menaggio. Great slideshow. Thanks.

Thanks Julie. Waiting for a response from from the Victoria in Menaggio...

Lovely photos aren't they?

Not mine unfortunately - so I can't take the credit ... :(

Steve

EK:

>>>Trattoria Cesarina was great, and a fun experience for us. They don't have a written menu and just tell you what your options are for the night. We had a wonderful dinner there with a ravioli in butter sage sauce<<<

Knowing some of your tastes re: foodie targets, I highly recommend the above. We stayed at the Laurin a few years ago, and ran into the Cesarina on a side street a block or two to the west of the hotel. Purely by accident...and as Ninkette writes, it's your mom and pop (in this case Uncle, Aunt and nephew) with innovative dishes...yes, you do not order...they will work out a menu for you..please let them...it does not disappoint...very informal place engulfed with the love of the trio mentioned. Price wise, amazingly on the low side when all is said, served and paid for.

We also tried the Oca...doesn't come close to Cesarina.

Have fun..it's hard not to in this heavenly part of Italia!

Best from Roz,

Stu T. (just back from Portugal and UK.)

Thanks so much, Stu! I will put it on my list..you know I love "mom and pops" much more than the starchy places, especially in Italy.

Glad to read that you and Roz had a good trip. I hope you will do a report! All the best, ekscrunchy

To Julie and anyone not tired of my incessant questions:

The Grand Victoria in Menaggio has space for us. Before I cancel the Belvedere in Bellagio, I wanted to double check to make sure that Menaggio is the better option (over Bellagio). More of a real town; better views, less touristy--Menaggio sounds excellent. Because I am planning this trip for other people whose requirements are a bit different than my own, I am more anxious than usual about making the "right" choice for the three of us..

Many thanks for any comments...the good thing is that after this, the hotels will be booked and I can begin asking about food!