Hotel Villa Flori — Hotel in Como

Villa Flori Como Arrived on July 7, 2024. When we arrived by taxi there was no bellman or person greeting you or to assist with luggage. Once we got out of the cab we proceeded to the auto carousel door. As my wife entered the door was stuck. There were 3 ladies at the desk giggling at the situation and they had no desire to help. We arrived at 2:00 pm hoping to get to the room early. We were actually scolded by the front desk person asking if we could check in early. She said, “No check in is at 3:00 and that is when your room will be available.” She said we could leave and come back or go to the lounge bar for a bite eat. We elected to go the lounge bar and have a quick eat. The menu was very limited so we both ordered a salad which was not desirable. I came back at 3:01 to finish check in and grab our key. The lady at the front desk gave us our key and said have a good day. She didn’t even explain where the room was, how to get there and did not even give an overview of the hotel. We asked about our luggage and she said they would bring it to us later. After we got to the room and situated our luggage arrived at the front door. When I say arrived, we heard a knock at the door. I opened it and the same front desk person said, “Here is your luggage, ciao.” After about an hour, we came down later and asked another lady at the front desk about activities and suggestions on restaurants. She looked at us like we were bothering her and basically was no help. We asked many questions like boat tour, biking tour or a restaurant suggestion and each time she looked at us like we had 3 heads. What I found from Villa Flori is that the hotel was nice. I also found that the male front desk staff was helpful while the female front desk staff were not and would go out of their way to offer assist and help. They acted as though we bothered them when we asked a question. The only female staff member that actually went out her way was the hostess for dinner when we decided to have dinner at the restaurant. She actually had a conversation with us and we shared a few laughs. Recommendation to Villa Flori, fire or retrain the front desk female staff members because they have no clue about hospitality. Villa Flori was our 4th stop on a tour in Italy. We visited Rome, Florence, Lake Como and Venice. Out of the 4 hotels we stayed at, Villa Flori had the worst hospitality and front staff was rude. The front desk and concierge, at the other 3 hotels we stayed we simply far and above the front desk staff at Villa Flori. Would I stay here again. Probably...

I am going to struggle to do this justice but I'll try. The hotel is lovely. The rooms generally face the lake and provide one of the most dramatic backdrops. We arrived to be greeted by Mattia the concierge who is without question the best in the game. We have been fortunate to stay in some beautiful hotels across the world. I can say with my hand on my heart that Mattias service is the best we have had anywhere. He welcomes you with a warmth you might get from a long lost friend. Nothing is too much trouble. He anticipates what you might need before you know you need it.

Mattia has arranged boat trips, transport, recommendations on local restaurants and bars for all kinds of things. We have found each and every person to be first rate. His knowledge of the area, the lake and the town is extensive. Use his knowledge and you will not be disappointed.

It is hard to not single Mattia out because he is sooooo good. There are other members of staff who took great care of us. Ryan on breakfast service. The girl who made us so many cocktails from the hotel bar whose name escapes me.

The location is superb and we have walked to Como town centre in circa 25 mins ambling along the lakeside. This is in the main part via the old victorian era promenade which means you do not have to risk walking on the roads which around the lake can be dicey.

The hotel has parking which is very handy. It's a good idea to let the hotel know before you arrive if you require a space so they know and can accommodate you.

The hotel is perched on the West side of Lake como and generally looks East. Its location means it gets the sun pretty much all day and the balconies overlooking the lake make the perfect perch to sunbathe, to relax with drinks and take in the view. We enjoyed watching the lake fish bask in the sun and Cormorants diving.

The lake como aero club water planes land just in front of the hotel which is always good to watch. As a base to explore the lake or as a private a retreat where you can relax and soak in the view you will struggle to beat Villa Flori. We feel we have be spoiled and would find it very hard to return to the lake and not return to Villa Flori.

grazie...

I was very excited when I booked this hotel, since it was favorably reviewed and for the price I was expecting a lot more. The hotel itself is small, besides the bar/lounge & breakfast area (which are both very enjoyable) there aren’t any other amenities (e.g fitness & spa, pool, etc). It is located close to the San Giovanni train station which is extremely favorable given the poor taxi and transportation system in Como (which a completely different topic and one that the hotel cannot control).

The closest area to the hotel is a 16-18 minute walk to Cernobbio and there you can find some restaurants. Again, the taxi’s are not reliable (specially at night) and the hotel does not have a shuttle to transport guests.

Regarding the room, in my opinion it was nice and it had a nice view of the lake. Nonetheless, on the first night, I noticed a spider on the bathroom, but I didn’t give it much thought. The next day I noticed that we had close to 10 other spiders inside of the room. I spent a while whacking spiders, and then went to the front desk to tell them, they didn’t offer much help other than have someone vaccum the dead spiders. That same night I unfortunately had more spiders show up in my room and I was pretty disgusted by this point and I asked if I could be moved into any other room. They denied my request and by that point I was frankly tired of complaining and I just gave up. I paid full price for my rooms and I wasn’t even offered an apology for the conditions of my room.

Though my experience was unique, it did reflect the unpreparedness that the staff had to deal with situations like this and for the price and status of the hotel, one would expect a little extra. I really do hope that this review helps the staff in some way and that no future guest has to endure this type of treatment.

To end on a positive note, their breakfast is amazing, it has some great views and the waiters are very attentive and kind. Same goes for the bar/lounge area. Their concierge also gave us plenty of options for tours and activities which I appreciated but unfortunately we couldn’t take advantage of anything since it was storming during our stay (again, out of the...