Seeking hotel recommendations: Bellagio, Cinque Terre, Verona
Jul 25th, 1997, 06:59 PM
#1
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Seeking hotel recommendations: Bellagio, Cinque Terre, Verona
Planning trip to Northern Italy late Aug/early Sept and looking for charming, inexpensive hotels, pensions on Lake Como, Verona, and Cinque Terre for brief stays. Any ideas/descriptions most welcome. Also, always in the market for good restaurants! Thanks.
Jul 26th, 1997, 11:30 AM
#2
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If you are looking for someplace inexpensive to stay in Lago di Como, my suggestion is that you don't stay in Bellagio! I am not sure they even have any such thing. We stayed at the Hotel Villa Serbelloni, which is probably the most expensive. It was certainly nice, but as I am young (28) I felt like a fish out of water among the elegant, wealthy Europeans. Varenna and Menaggio would be my recommendations--Menaggio is just as pretty, without the attitude! Monica
Jul 27th, 1997, 06:44 AM
#3
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Hi
When we (me & SO) were in Verona last fall Hotel Mazzanti served us extremely well...(except for some smells of the antique city). Its placed few steps off Piazza d'Erbe, might have a free parking if you need one (warning: it could take you an hour of driving in circles to find it) and is quite quiet, charming with very friendly staff and good breakfasts...oh yes, its cheap too
When we (me & SO) were in Verona last fall Hotel Mazzanti served us extremely well...(except for some smells of the antique city). Its placed few steps off Piazza d'Erbe, might have a free parking if you need one (warning: it could take you an hour of driving in circles to find it) and is quite quiet, charming with very friendly staff and good breakfasts...oh yes, its cheap too
Jul 27th, 1997, 12:07 PM
#4
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Kat,
There is in Bellagio the Hotel Il Perlo Panorama which has only 13 rooms, a million dollar view I prefer over others on Lake Como - even the very expensive Villa d'Este, and costs only 120,000 Lira per night [less than $75]. That is the price I paid for 3 nights in late May of 1997. The view is stunning, as good as any I've had in 21 international vacations. Of course, you must ask for a room on the lake side. There is a large common balcony on the ground floor and smaller private ones on the floor above. The down side is that the hotel is 3 kilometers above Bellagio, about a $7-8 dollar cab ride, and some of the bathrooms are small. Surprisingly, the Il Perlo Panorama even has an e-mail address, though the e-mail is actually received 250 miles away an another hotel the family owns in the Dolomites. Their e-mail address is [email protected]. If you stay there, I would recommend not eating at their restaurant, as even the owner wants to get rid of the current managers. If you prefer being right on the harbor, Hotel du Lac is a 3 star hotel owned and run by a British lady for the last 41 years [It's only about 100 yards away from the expensive Grand Hotel Villa Serbelloni mentioned by another respondent, and featured by the way in the movie Bobby Deerfield many years ago.]. I haven't stayed at Hotel du Lac, but several couples I met in Bellagio liked it. Rick Steves recommends the town of Varenna, which is only 10 minutes away by ferry and has even cheaper places, and is perhaps more charming and quaint than the more upscale Bellagio, as well as having a train station. I personally do not find Menaggio as charming or interesting as either Bellagio or Varenna, though Menaggio is more convenient for visiting the Villa Carlotta. Good luck!
There is in Bellagio the Hotel Il Perlo Panorama which has only 13 rooms, a million dollar view I prefer over others on Lake Como - even the very expensive Villa d'Este, and costs only 120,000 Lira per night [less than $75]. That is the price I paid for 3 nights in late May of 1997. The view is stunning, as good as any I've had in 21 international vacations. Of course, you must ask for a room on the lake side. There is a large common balcony on the ground floor and smaller private ones on the floor above. The down side is that the hotel is 3 kilometers above Bellagio, about a $7-8 dollar cab ride, and some of the bathrooms are small. Surprisingly, the Il Perlo Panorama even has an e-mail address, though the e-mail is actually received 250 miles away an another hotel the family owns in the Dolomites. Their e-mail address is [email protected]. If you stay there, I would recommend not eating at their restaurant, as even the owner wants to get rid of the current managers. If you prefer being right on the harbor, Hotel du Lac is a 3 star hotel owned and run by a British lady for the last 41 years [It's only about 100 yards away from the expensive Grand Hotel Villa Serbelloni mentioned by another respondent, and featured by the way in the movie Bobby Deerfield many years ago.]. I haven't stayed at Hotel du Lac, but several couples I met in Bellagio liked it. Rick Steves recommends the town of Varenna, which is only 10 minutes away by ferry and has even cheaper places, and is perhaps more charming and quaint than the more upscale Bellagio, as well as having a train station. I personally do not find Menaggio as charming or interesting as either Bellagio or Varenna, though Menaggio is more convenient for visiting the Villa Carlotta. Good luck!
Aug 4th, 1997, 04:45 PM
#5
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In Cinque Terre, the Marina Piccola comes highly recommended by a friend of mine. I'm heading there in September so can't yet give first-hand knowledge, but my friend who stayed there said it was wonderful - nice rooms with beautiful sea views, though no a/c. It is located in the southern-most village of the Cinque Terre, Riomaggiore. I believe you are required to take half board, but it is still very affordable.
