weedso

I am going to Lake Como in September for 3 nights and wanted to know if anyone had stayed at either of these 2 places...any comments on location, service and rooms...Thanks

Lesli

http://fodors.com/forums/threadselec...amp;tid=787767

Type "villa d este" (no apostrophe) into the text box at the top of this page to bring up over 50 threads.

bobthenavigator

My top crieria for hotels is location and price. The Serbellini has the advantage for both. However, both are too rich for my blood. If you want a nice hotel on Como then look at Grand Hotel Tremezzo or GH Mennagio--both are nice 4 stars in good locations at a fraction the cost of Villa d' Este.

Bootman4U

I agree with Bob on this...someone recently blasted someone else who said they weren't impressed with the Villa d"Este rooms and implied they were some sort of moron for not being so. It all depends on how you want to spend your money and how LONG you want to have some to spend. The establishments Bob recommended are excellent alternatives.

travel_gal

I was the person who was blasted but it was a troll who blasted my every post. Anyway, we stayed at Villa d"este last summer and we were not impressed. It was are least favorite hotel in Italy. If someone blasts me again, it's just the troll that changes his name daily.

weedso

Thank you for your honest responses. I am amazed at this whole chatting process and how helpful it can really be to get other opinions. My travel agent insists that Villa d Este is THE place to stay at the lake, as well as many write ups about it. I have 2 friends that have been as well, and they both liked it alot. I just don't know if the experience is worth $1,000 a night in a suite, lakefront with breakfast. I want this to be the greatest trip I can create for my husband's 50th birthday and don't mind spending the money if it is worth it. If you have any more opinions on this subject, please let me know. Thank you so much for your help!

bobthenavigator

Location, location, location !

amcc

I responded on another one of your messages yesterday that I had been to Villa d'Este and absolutely loved it. For me, the hotel was the destination, not so much Lake Como because I had fallen in love with the place when I was around 12 years old and saw it in a magazine. I understand that I hopefully will be back to the area and will explore much more at leisure and in depth. So, if Villa d'Este is what you want, then it is worth it to you. Are there other beautiful charming places in the area - absolutely and for quite a bit less money. We didn't leave the hotel for 2 days, except for a brief visit to town to a small market. The pool, the restaurants, the bar, sitting on the terrace and soaking in the atmosphere and the view were worth it for me and I have priceless memories. We didn't have a suite and we had a side view of the lake, but I still wouldn't trade it for the world. And, they treated us like royalty (what I imagine royalty gets treated like anyway) even though we were in the cheap room, and drove up in a Fiat that had crumbs all over the place!

CoachBoy

i got slammed to for criticizing the villa d'este...

the rooms, at least the ones i saw, were small and unimpressive. the clientele seemed mostly asian and rich texans - a lot of preening and not many smiles or laughter.

the food is a fortune ($30 for a sandwich). the grounds are lovely, as is the lakeside setting.

serbolini has a better setting and you're in bellagio, so you have more shopping and dining options.

my feeling is that if the $$$ is an issue, you're setting yourself up for disappointment. the hotel either is perfect, or you'll be disappointed.

hotel florence was nice in bellagio, but not a resort (ie. no swimming pool).

coachboy

ps. i went 8 years ago, so i'm sure things have changed.

purplefish

Have been to both last March. Villa d'Este is hard to beat. As one of the previous posters have said...this hotel is a destination in itself. We stayed there one night and wish we could afford staying longer. We have a lot of activities planned for the afternoon but decided to blow it off and just stay in the hotel. Food is price-y but the place is just gorgeous and would be the perfect place for a 50th birthday. I know if I were 50 that would be one place I'd love to be in to celebrate my bithday. Hotel experience there is hard to beat just what makes it beautiful is lies in the natural topogrphy and long history of the hotel.

Cicerone

Just got back from Villa d'este yesterday, and I have to say we loved it. We had a 2-bedroom lake view suite for two nights and a suite with a view of the mosaic and "side view" of the lake for one night. Both suites were large, and the side view one had a nice partial lake view and a view over the mosaic and gardens which was beautiful. I liked having a suite as we had 4 people and we were there for 3 nights so we had a room we could all sit in, etc; but for one night I don't know if it is really worth the extra price. The bedrooms with lake view all seemed to be a pretty good size, and for one night I don't think you would need a suite, but that is your choice. If you wanted to save money and use it to splurge on a great bottle of wine or champagne or hiring a boat and driver for the day rather than a sitting room you may not use, that might be a better use of funds. The clientele is overwhelmingly American, with some Italians and the odd sheik and Japanese tourist, so that may or may not be attractive to you.. While lunch is really quite expensive (no kidding $30 for a sandwich) we ate in the Verandah twice for dinner and I did not think it was any more expensive than a New York restaurant (and cheaper than a good restaurant in Zurich, where I live?) they do get some day trippers so they may try to charge more for lunch to either make money or discourage day trippers.

They have a very good spa, but make reservations before you arrive if you can, as they get booked. The Verandah, their main restaurant, requires jacket and tie for men in the evenings, but they also have a more casual grill which is up off the lake a bit where no jacket or tie is required. The hotel is outside Como, but you can walk 5 minutes to the ferry stop in Ceribbino and get to Como by ferry in under 15 minutes; a cab from the Villa d'este to Como will cost about $17. You can take the high-speed ferries from Como to other parts of the lake. We also hired a motorboat for one day and thought that was the best way to see the lake. We had a driver, but the hotel will also rent you a boat if you want to drive yourself. A great place for a visit is Villa Babinello, which is located on a promontory jutting into the lake and can only be reached by boat. You can tour the gardens for a small fee, ($4 or so), you can also tour the house which is very beautiful and has an interesting history. You need to make a reservation to tour the house, the hotel can do this for you. The charge for house and gardens is about $30 per person. You need about and hour and a half to 2 hours to see the place.

I walked through Villa Serbinelli while in Bellagio. It has a nice location and it is convenient to be right in Bellagio. From the public areas, however, I would say this is a notch below Villa d'Este and does not have the extensive gardens and trees on the lakeside that Villa d'Este has.

Grinisa

I've stayed at the Villa d'Este three times and loved it each time. All three rooms were very large and had a balcony or terrace overlooking the Lake. If you are planning a special 50th birthday trip, and don't mind spending the money, the Villa d'Este is the place to go.

Andre

If I were in your situation, I would seriously consider the new Grhand Hotel Villa Feltrinelli on Lake Garda, which has been getting amazing reviews. It's owned by the guy who designed the Regent Hotels' rooms (& bathrooms)... looks VERY nice.

www.villafeltrinelli.com

Hope this helps,
Andre