Lake Como Youth Hostel La Primula, Menaggio — Hotel in Menaggio

If you want a good view on a budget this is the cheapest you’ll find. The view from the rooms is absolutely stunning and in the breakfast area as well. Very well located in Menaggio and super close to the ferry.

But if you take away the view this is extremely overpriced for the conditions it offers. We got a private room for 96€ with a view and private bathroom. Amazing right? Not really. There was dust and food behind and under the furniture, room was painted dark with the wallpaper falling apart. We had to make the bed (which we expected) but there was no sheets in the room, which we were told there may not be. Why would you not take the time to check that? The shower was directly in front of the toilet with like 20cm, so small that if you closed the door to the shower you couldn’t sit on the toilet lmao. The whole building was just overall really run down. It really felt like they think they can get away we anything because they are pretty much the only hostel with a view like that.

This was literally the noisiest hostel I’ve ever been in. Not just other guests, everything was noisy: doors, beds, toilets, and we could hear everything in our room, we barely slept. Also it definitely looks much better in the pictures than in real life.

But we could deal with all that, we both work at a hostel, we knew sort of what to expect. What we couldn’t deal with was the staff. Broooo I have no words. The staff was SO mean. There were two girls (volunteering I think?) that were really sweet in the short interactions we had with them. But the guy at reception…. Everything we said felt like we were annoying him. For example, we couldn’t find the luggage room (ridiculously placed) and we went there and he literally raised his voice, super annoyed and repeated almost the same thing with a mean face like??? When we went back for it he literally just threw the key with an annnoyed sigh like??? Sorry for making you do your job??? We honestly couldn’t believe it. Also, he sent us to our room through the path around the building when there were actually stairs to it inside. It was pouring rain.

Breakfast is pretty sad also, loved the fresh bread but the coffee was basically water and everything else was just plastic packaged things. View was amazing tho.

We also tried the restaurant, food was tasty and with a great price, however it took half an hour to order and we had to ask for them to give us the menu and then again to take our order, felt like they were ignoring everyone that sat down. They charged us for extra stuff we didn’t eat and the same guy sounded annoyed at us for complaining about it. And keep in mind we both work at a hostel so we were being nice to everyone cause we know what it’s like. But like fr dude you’re doing the wrong job for you. My interactions with you these 2 days made my stay in Lake Como worse than it could’ve been and that’s not worth the...

Do not stay here.

We arrived at the hostel hoping for a good stay and booked private rooms for the group. Not only was the room so cold that we couldn’t sleep (and were shivering all night) but there was a sewage leak & it smelled of poop for the 3 days. The front desk was very condescending and not helpful at all. They basically said it happens all the time and that we were being too picky.

We told her we weren’t able to sleep all night and that all our clothes were starting to smell and she just said that it was what we should expect from a cheap hostel. No where else in the hostel smells this way though. We couldn’t even stay in our room because the smell was so foul and our health felt endangered.

After discussing this issue with the rude front desk woman for over 15 minutes she finally made us switch rooms to another room (that was still cold but thank goodness didn’t smell). But this was reluctant and she had an attitude the whole time. This was also after she said all the rooms were already full. All she offered us was a spritz for our trouble but you can tell she thought we were just being too picky. Poor customer service overall.

Our shower also had not been cleaned and we didn’t even want to step into it.

All the sheets had holes and stains.The wifi also does not work well at all and you can’t get reception in 95% of the hostel.

The pictures of the hostel on Hostelworld and the website didn’t at all reflect what we received. Overall misleading and although the view of the lake is beautiful, even the private rooms of the hostel are poor quality.

One last note — when it says the cocktails at their bar are 5€, (there is a huge sign at the bar stating “€5 cocktails”… note that it does NOT say “€5 basic cocktails”). The €5 only mean “basic” cocktails like gin & tonic. They up-charged us for any other cocktail (like mojito) without warning and when we got the bill and questioned it they said that we should’ve known this.

I would give this place a negative star rating if I could. If it wasn’t obvious, do not stay at this hostel.

PS. Also make sure you wear walking shoes as the actual rooms are about a 10 min hike up steep/uneven steps (this wasn’t as much of an issue but important to note). Very difficult walk with luggage, but this part at least isn’t any fault of the hostel itself.

The only nice person here was the cleaning woman! She is such a sweetheart & was the only decent part...

Ok, let me be honest — this was my first time here, and I’m really disappointed.

First of all, I believe it’s important who you choose to represent your restaurant and greet guests. We checked in around 2 PM, and the gentleman who received us then was polite and professional — no issue at all. However, when we came down around 6–7 PM just to have dinner, the experience was completely different.

I approached the manager (a man with slightly longer hair) and told him there were three of us and that we’d prefer a table inside because it was very cold and windy outside. He told us to wait outside and said he would come back to us shortly. But 30 minutes to an hour passed, and he never came — even though I politely followed up with him multiple times.

When I eventually asked him why other guests who arrived after us were being seated before us, and why he hadn’t taken our order, his response shocked me. He said, “Did you see me go outside?” I answered, “No.” Then he said, “That means I’m busy.”

I understand being busy, but that kind of response is extremely unprofessional and rude. Eventually, I had to go back inside because it was too cold. We stood at the bar, still waiting and asking, but he walked past us repeatedly as if we were invisible. It felt disrespectful and dismissive.

I spoke to him politely the entire time — we’re Asian, and we try to stay calm and respectful. But I don’t want that calmness to be taken advantage of or to be seen as if we don’t matter. No one deserves to be treated like this.

I truly hope the restaurant considers hiring staff who are kind, professional, and know how to manage situations with proper...