Villa Sophia — Hotel in Menaggio

With real estate it's location, location, location, and this point is served. You can run down to the center/shops/ferries in 15 minutes, but it's a lot safer and more relaxing to take the bikeway than use the same serpentine the cars are on. The bike track also connects to the wonderful Orrido del Sanagra, which you absolutely cannot afford to miss.

There are bigger stores something like 6K up the mountain, also.

We wanted to have wine every day, so we relied on the busses instead of scooters or rental cars. They do come eventually. If you've been waiting 15 or 17 minutes, it doesn't mean you've missed it. Though sometimes they might not come at all.

There's a gelateria next door if you have late night cravings. And you can ask the hotel restaurant accross the street to serve you dinner if you do it before 12:00 (they get fresh stuff each day). Also there are 2 restaurants with great views accross the street and up the hill.

The guy welcoming you there is very nice.

The pool is like 15 degrees centigrade. Not that I expect heated outdoor pools, but so you know. Also, the ladder is hanging on by a thread.

The house uses 1 phase for its power. So run 2 ovens and the TV and you get to mess with the circuit breaker next to the gate.

There is something broken in every room. The house hasn't seen a handyman in 10 years, judging from other reviews here. Loose faucets, broken handles, doors almost broken due to someone having tried to force through locks, creaky floors, squeaky doors, non-existent water pressure if someone else is using, occasional smell of sewage, broken flower...

We had a family of 10 stay here, including adults, teenagers, toddlers and retired people and loved it! Easy drive down to the ferry (to go to Belaggio, Varenna, etc), to Switzerland for day trips, and great just to sit and relax! The morning was a bit noisy off the front balcony with people going to work with the cars and motorcycles, but nothing major. We actually felt like locals too since we were next to other houses. I would certainly recommend this house. In fact, we were early season for the pool, but in warmer weather the pool...

Location was great in Menaggio, but a ton of stuff was broken or not functioning in this house. The driveway was a bit tight and there was plumbing issues, washer/dryer didn't work well, internet (WiFi) was spotty and TVs didn't work so we couldn't watch most TV and more importantly any of the World Cup or Wimbledon while it was on. There was no A/C either - which was horrible, but the top floor where we had a few kids was pretty hot at night and in...