Hotel Lago di Como — Hotel in Colico

Where do I start? At the beginning I suppose and I shall detail everything in order as we go along. ||On arrival, we were 2hr early(check-in is 4pm). They allowed us to check-in after preparing the twin room we has requested via email before departure. |They will ask you to pay the local taxes on arrival. Works out €1.50pn. ||First impression - Alright I guess. Small reception with the breakfast room to the left of it and the restaurant to the right. |There is a "garden" to the rear via the breakfast room. ||We were given our room key and we made our way up. Room basic. Television (never switched it on so can't comment if it works), kettle with coffee/tea (no cups/milk), broken safe and a fridge that doesn't work. |They left the usual complimentary soaps etc and have scent Reeds in the room and bathroom (they are long empty). The floors look as if they haven't seen a brush/Hoover/mop in God knows how long. Only one waste bin provided in the bathroom. The shower tray is mouldy but doesn't affect the use of the shower. The water is very hot. The toilet seat is also loose but on talking with other guests, it seems to be recurring throughout. ||My friend and I are very self contained so we immediately put the do not disturb up on the door. |Sadly, I have to say despite the sign, there was clear evidence that someone had been in our room. The balcony door was open. The bathroom window was open. The air con was switched off (ps they can control this also from the computer at reception). There was fresh towels in the bathroom along with extra toilet roll. We did complain to reception but got the impression they pulled the language barrier act and they didn't understand what we were saying. ||The breakfast times are 07:30 - 09:30. The selections/variety isn't fabulous but you make of it what you will. I ate basic but enjoyed the cappuccinos. |Evening/restaurant times are 1900-2200. We ate here only once despite being half board. The food isn't what you would expect. The pizza is nice though. Also you will be charged €3 per bottle of water you order with your dinner. You would think if you have paid half board this would be included. ||During our stay, there was a coach party in for a couple nights. If you are unfortunate to stay at the same time, expect the breakfast room to be obliterated and not replaced unless asked. ||We stayed out til minutes before 23:00 curfew and you have to use the pin code to get in. |We were appalled to find out they switch the lift off at 22:50. No idea why! You have to use the staircase which is unlit and quite daunting so I would say it's very unsuitable for older guests. And again, there is no warning for this. ||On our itinerary, we were to get a wine tasting session but we either missed it or not offered it. We were to receive a complimentary cocktail on arrival which we never received. Always check the guest WiFi. It's dodgy on/off and could potentially eat up all your data if your roaming is on. ||The hotel is situated just off the main trunk road. All amenities are very close and within small walking distance. The gran bottega supermarket is way better than the other one along the road. You are a 2-3min walk to the lake front. |We have eaten in Il Faro, Ovvio and Blueriver. |The train station is a short walk also. |Please take heed that the trains between Lecco and Tirano are replacement buses due to upgrading works for the Winter Olympics|The public transport is very easy to navigate and very cheap. |€8 for a ticket between Milan and Colico. |€5.40 return to Varenna. |The ferries are expensive though. Colico to Bellagio was €24.20 round trip and that's the rapido service. The longer ferries are cheaper and they do offer 65+ discount. ||So, if you have got this far, thank you! ||I would like to end with complimenting the two young girls who work reception but the star of the hotel is young Francesco. |The young man is a treasure. He cannot do enough for you and always has a smile and bonjourno. ||Enjoy your stay in Colico if you make it here. The scenery is just breathtaking and pace of the place...

Collico is a small town on the north end of Lake Como. It has a ferry port, train station and bus station. There are some bars and restaurants close to the lake side. The shops are not very inspiring although there is a small supermarket, butchers and grocers so the basics are there.|Hotel Lago DI Como is situated off the main street about a five minute walk from the train and bus station and the ferry terminal.|Although this hotel does have amenities like air conditioning, a lift, room safe, WIFI and a restaurant it is very basic and represents poor quality in my opinion.|Lets do the positives.|The staff are friendly and helpful although some do not speak good English they do try to help. I would say it is clean on the whole. |The WIFI is free and for me worked throughout the hotel.|The bathroom was ok apart from no hooks or shelf under the mirror. The hairdryer worked fortunately as I used it to dry my trainers.|The shower was good.|Not so positive.|Our room was 216. It was small, it had a small window and was in the corner of the building so quite dark and so basic it felt monastic.|The beds and pillows were hard and uncomfortable. It rained the first two days and we had wet clothes and shoes and no way on drying them as no heating ( we asked at reception but were told it was off). |There wasn't even a hook to hang up wet coats. The beds had a sheet and threadbare cover when we arrived but the weather was chilly . We had twin beds but there was only one quilt in the wardrobe. We asked for another which we got but no duvet cover was provided for the whole stay.|The safe instructions were a mystery so we couldn't use it. We did ask for help at reception but none was forthcoming due to the language problem.|There was a broken soap holder in the shower and nowhere to put toiletries so we used the floor and the towels were threadbare.|We were on half board and the food again was poor. Breakfast was basic and there was no effective way of keeping food warm. So cold, congealed scrambled eggs and greasy cold fried eggs just sat there. There was a machine for boiling eggs but it was hit and miss.|There was lots of cake which seemed to be left over from the previous nights meal. Bread was often stale. The only fresh fruit were whole apples and some dried figs. There was cereal and hot drinks and fruit juice. It just all felt very uninspiring, cheap and basic. |There was a three course evening meal and an option to replace a course with a pizza. What appeared on our plate was not always as described on the menu. Any meat or fish was very thin, vegetables were in short supply, dessert was usually cake.|On the plus side the soup was usually good. We were so disappointed with the food we took to eating out at lunchtime for our main meal and just having soup in the evening. This of course had a financial implication as we had not budgeted for it.|In conclusion everything felt cheap in this hotel and certainly not what I would expect from a 4 star hotel. |There was mould all along the corridor leading to our room and the fire alarm point was broken so we could not have raised the alarm in the case of a fire.|Also Collico, even though it has good transport links, is not a great location in terms of time spent getting to the main tourist areas. Como city is 2 hours on a fast ferry, 4 hours on a slow ferry and 2.5 hours on the bus. There is nothing much to do in the town itself , it certainly isn't a tourist destination.|Look for a hotel around the central Lake area. You might pay more but this hotel was a false economy in terms of having to eat out and paying for travel and time spent getting to where you want to be.|We may have been unlucky with our room but no way is this hotel a 4 star.|Lake Como is...

This hotel is a mixed bag! The first point you need to know is that although it is 4, it is at best a 3 (this is based on many experiences staying in Italian hotels).|Good points:|- The shower is EXCELLENT - really good water pressure and always hot, quite a selling point when you consider the number of otherwise good hotels where this is not the case!|- The staff all work very hard and are very pleasant. This includes reception, cleaners, and Moses and his team in the restaurant. The personalities give the hotel a character that is quite entertaining and we enjoyed our stay, this is the primary reason for me marking 4 out of 5 rather than a lower score.|- The coffee at breakfast is excellent if you order it from the staff rather than using the ready made filter style coffee that is not very nice (in my opinion).|- Very reasonably priced hotel||Not so good:|- As has been mentioned before, the bottom sheets in particular do not fit the bed. This may be a small point but can cause issues when everything gets tangled. Why not invest in some decent 6ft fitted sheets? This would make the overall experience in the room much better. |- The food - it is not 4* standard. As mentioned by others the hot breakfast option is a waste of time because it is luke warm at best, and therefore it would be better not to serve it and focus on the continental breakfast options which are very varied. The appetisers / buffet is very good at dinner but the first and second courses are pretty awful, desert is okay but there is only one option. I think this is because the hotel is offering a half board option at giveaway prices, and don't appear to use the a la carte menu that is displayed outside (I would have thought you could be offered this as an alternative for an extra payment?).|- There is no bar, you have to order drinks from reception / the restaurant, and they come in plastic cups. I have never been to a 3 or a 4 star hotel with no bar area before!||Having said all the above, would I return to this hotel? Possibly, because the area is fantastic, and I don't know how many good hotels there are in Collico, especially...