Villa d'Este — Attraction in Cernobbio

About iconic place, drawbacks of high season and people that stand out

When planning a trip to Lake Como, my friend and I were hesitating between the Mandarin Oriental Como and Villa d’Este. Finally, we decided to go for Villa d’Este, as this iconic place had long been on our bucket list.

I think the choice was right - this is definitely a place that makes you want to come back. To enjoy it to the fullest, it’s better to consider visiting during the low season, when the hotel is less crowded and busy.

We booked an Executive Garden View room, 50 sqm, which is a good option if you are looking for value for money - a spacious room with a balcony and a nice view (it even had a partial lake view from the balcony).

When we arrived, our room wasn’t ready, so the reception offered us an alternative within the same category on the top (4th) floor. However, it had a low ceiling and no balcony, so I wouldn’t suggest choosing the top floor, despite the common belief that higher floors are better. Our room on the 1st floor was just ideal (twin room 111).

Even though I heard various feedback on the dining experience at the hotel from friends who dined there, my personal experience was much better than I expected. We had lunch at the poolside restaurant, where the salad with crab and pasta with bottarga were so delicious that I even ordered an extra portion of the pasta!

For dinner, we chose the Grill restaurant, and it was a perfect choice. It had a much cosier and more romantic atmosphere compared to the main restaurant. The avocado and crab salad, along with the Wagyu Beef Tagliata, were exceptional - I highly recommend both dishes.

Unfortunately, my friend had some issues with her meals. The burger she ordered for lunch and the beef steak for dinner were not cooked to the level she requested, which was critical since she is pregnant. The restaurant had to remake both dishes, but no compensation was offered, even though she had to wait for her main dish to be redone twice while I was already eating.

The breakfast experience was pleasant. The table setup was beautiful and upscale, and the views were absolutely stunning. If you’re staying during the high season, it’s best to arrive early for breakfast, as the restaurant becomes overcrowded around 9:00-9:30 am, to the point where it can even start to feel like a canteen. I would also suggest the hotel finds a solution for the wasps, as it did impact our breakfast experience. A bit of humor during breakfast - the waiter referred to an avocado as a mango when serving it.

At full occupancy, the hotel felt overcrowded, which had an impact on the overall experience. Its charm and elegance were lost, particularly because some guests did not dress or behave in a way that fit the aesthetic of the place. Group bookings also had a noticeable impact.

My friend found her spa massage average.

I would like to highlight a few team members who truly stood out - Roberta at the reception, who took care of our check-in and check-out. She was charming, friendly and helpful. Another star was Michele, who took care of our table at the Grill Restaurant. Both of them were attentive, caring and showed genuine interest in making sure that we had a wonderful time.

Another highlight of our stay was a lovely chat with Pierre and Lilo, a chic and elegant couple, who own the beauty salon in the hotel. They are truly the soul of the property and a wealth of knowledge. I highly recommend taking the time to meet them, as it’s a very special experience.

Overall, I would rate our experience a 4.5 out of 5. I hope to return during the low season for an even better experience, when the hotel is less crowded and the hotel team is not as...

This was my 3rd stay at this property over a long time; returning with wife and kids, it would be 3 generations of our family being here. We were upgraded to the presidential suite, which was spacious and well appointed, although I preferred the bathroom in the connecting room 134 which had a standing shower and more standing space. Food is pricey but everything we had was great. My son loved the pizzas out on the terrace for lunch. Breakfast was great and dinner on the veranda was lovely; this is one of the few places that still has music and dancing during dinner and into the night and the piano player is fantastic. One of our dinners was at the Japanese-Italian fusion outlet and we actually liked it. |The hotel has great facilities with indoor and outdoor pools (with a bathing suit dryer), a pretty good gym with skylights, and a sauna and steam room. The indoor pool is open till 8 while the outdoor pool closed at 7 in June. |We did a boat ride arranged with the hotel along the lake and enjoyed it; we did not think you needed a speed boat as the lake is not all that calm and it was nice having some covering on the boat. The hotel arranged a hike in a nearby village that went up high over the lake and we enjoyed that as well. |Service was friendly; one concierge really looked after me well after I got injured during a bicycle ride, and he was good about arranging taxi to the airport which cost half of what the hotel transfer would have cost. I didn't see any hint of snootiness from anyone, and nobody charged me 7 Euros for a bottle of water while I was on property. I've seen reviews and remember past visits where I had some different experiences.|The only pain point we had was a bike tour that the hotel arranged which did not go well. The tour went across the border into Switzerland and was not particularly interesting. The guide did not seem to know what time the tour was supposed to end and did not speak English well enough to communicate well with us when we tried to shorten the tour and agree to an ending time. The guide was really poor; he lost all 3 of us somewhere in Switzerland right in the middle of a street in town because we were not fast enough for him and he didn't look to see that we were there. He lost my son once. He eventually found us. I didn't feel sorry because we were not advanced riders and he should have figured that out after an hour instead of berating us and telling us the tour would end an hour later because we were too slow. The tour was offered as a beginner's tour. I fell at the Swiss border and I don't think he was around to notice and didn't offer any first aid when we returned to his garage. I don't know if this was just a bad guide or a bad tour, but the hotel was really decent about it and didn't charge us for the tour. But hotels are supposed to vet these operators, and I suppose they were not happy about it either. |A few tips: there is a flea market in town on Wednesday mornings. You can buy nice women's clothes from the back of some of these vans. The optical shop was open till 7; they have nice styles and very friendly owners, and fixed my glasses after the bike fall. For a cheaper lunch, try the Giordano hotel in town which has a decent restaurant.|Overall, you will spend a lot of money at this property but it is beautiful throughout and they are upholding the best of hotel traditions. Treasure it while it remains an independent property and true to its values. The people who work there are...

We just returned after 3 days at the property and given the properties reputation we’re shocked at how we and other clients were treated. Management has very clearly made the decision that functions at the property take a higher priority than regular guests. We checked in and were not given the room class we reserved. We were put in a very small room with a small lake view. You had to turn sideway to get out of bed to go to the bathroom. After a very long night of being subjected to loud music |That more than likely did not come from the property, but very common to have parties on the lake. We reguested to be moved to a quiet garden room which is what we originally reserved. After moving the next morning we received a letter underneath our door advising guests there was a function at the property with music from 7 to 12. Has anyone stayed at a prporty charging you almost $2k per night warning guests to expect music so be prepared. We left our room for the day came back to a wedding outside our room that was outrageously loud. We were shocked, but in retrospect under. They didn’t want guests calling to complain. For the 2nd time we requested to be moved again and were told we were hearing the ceremony but that the reception was a bit farther away but music would be outdoors. They followed up with the wedding guests would be walking from the reception area to the docks at midnight to get on a boat to continue the party, but that they had security to make sure wasn’t too loud. When was the last time time wedding guests were not in a celebratory mood as they walked to next party. The front desk originally told us property was 100% booked and couldn’t be moved. After asking for the manager on duty they offered the presidential suite. Given we would be leaving early AM moving again to sleep was not good news. Then the really bad service kicked in. We advised we would be ready to move in 20 min. 30 minutes later no bellman. We called. 10-15 minutes later still nothing. We called again and were told to come down to reception desk and pick up our new key. Hard too believe like a motel 6. I suggested they have the bellman bring a key and then a member of front desk showed up at our door, gave us a key. I asked about bellman and they advised would be another 10/15 minutes. If you can believe it, we moved our own luggage with the help of the front desk clerk. You get the idea. Hotel management placed the function a priority. I ran into manager in duty after we moved she offered to buy us a drink. I advised they should comp, In the morning they charged us for the room and after we advised we would dispute the charge they relented and comped the room. You get the idea. Combine this with very expensive mediocre food the moral of the story is if you really want to stay at this property make sure when your reservation is made the hotel doesn’t have a function. What property advises clients to expect music till midnight? One that has received many complaints from guests! Today got an email from assistant manager of rooms suggesting that sorry for quality of sleep! Never again, many good properties on the lake. Stay at a property that cares about guests. I have pictures of letter and video of wedding. Not...