Milan or Lake Maggiore for night before flight
 

I have had a reservation at a not-so appealing, but cheap, hotel in downtown Milan for the night before our morning flight back to the US. After further research, it seems the airport is quite a distance from downtown. I have begun researching the possibility of staying at Lake Maggiore (Stresa?) the night before flying out which appears to be a MUCH nicer final experience for Italy as well as give us a glimpse of the Lakes area for future visits. Is it truly feasible to stay there & get to the aiport for a 10am flight? Sounds about a 50 minute commute to airport via shuttle; is this accurate? We would be coming to the Lake area from Venice. I had originally thought we would train from Venice to Milan but now wonder if we should pick up a rental car and drive out of Venice toward Lake Maggiore early morning (looks like 3-4hour drive) and return the car in Stresa...which appears to be possible from the car rental website. In that case, we would then take a morning shuttle to the airport (which I read about somewhere...). I don't want to deal with returning car in the morning in Milan...

Questions:
1. Would you drive or train to Lake Maggiore from Venice?
2. How much "out of our way" would we be going to spend the night at the Lake rather than downtown or at the airport? Is it worth it for 1 night?
3. Is Stresa the most convenient town to stay for airport access?
4. Is it a pleasant (scenic, interesting) drive from Venice?
5. Hotel recommendation? Family of 4 (2 teens,2 adults). Under 300 Euro.

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1. Would you drive or train to Lake Maggiore from Venice?
-I would, yes.

2. How much "out of our way" would we be going to spend the night at the Lake rather than downtown or at the airport?
-With a car, not at all.
Is it worth it for 1 night?
-IMO, yes.

3. Is Stresa the most convenient town to stay for airport access?
-It's good. I prefer Orta S. Giulio, beautiful little town.

4. Is it a pleasant (scenic, interesting) drive from Venice?
-No, it's not.

Stay at Villa Malpensa, the most amazing airport hotel you've ever stayed in. http://www.hotelvillamalpensa.com/e-main.htm

You might also look at Lago Orta San Giulio. It is west of Lago Maggiore and is a beautiful small town ( 16thC stone houses and georgeous iron work. The transfer to malpensa is about an hour. More beautiful than Stresa in my opinion. You could train to Orta and hire a driver to take you bak to Malpensa.