Villa Porro Pirelli

The food and service were both excellent, and there’s a bar open every day until 11 pm. We also found a few good restaurants within a 15-minute drive. The hotel was very good years ago, but parts now need renovation, especially the parking cover and bathrooms. Try to get a room in the main house. There isn’t much else to do in Varese, which has seen better days.

We were given a tiny room at the back of the property after booking a junior suite. It had just one chair, which apparently counted as part of the “suite,” a view of another property's backyard, and one bar of Wi-Fi. When we asked reception if there had been a mistake, they said that was the room and that the website photos were only a representation. The room was shabby, with stained carpets, a tiny windowless bathroom, and nowhere else to sit. The photos and room description felt false and misleading, and it seemed the hotel didn’t care once it had our money. The whole place is rundown and far too expensive, and since it’s far from anything, you’re forced to eat there. Terrible experience. I’d never recommend it, and I highly recommend staying somewhere else.

The villa itself is beautiful, and dinner was wonderful. Our waiter was great too, and he also works at the bar. But it needs a lot of help to become a proper four-star hotel. The air conditioning was broken, so the room stayed at 29 degrees Celsius (84 degrees Fahrenheit) all night. When we called, they first told us to switch it to cool. I said I knew how to use an air conditioner, so someone came up to try fixing it, but we still had to sleep in the heat. There were no in-room safes or phones to call reception. Without a car, you're basically stuck there, since there's no shuttle service, and walking to the next town feels too dangerous because the hotel is off a highway. I wanted lunch there, but the menu was exactly the same as dinner, and I didn't want such a large meal at lunchtime. The villa has potential, but better management is needed.

The hotel is in a beautiful location and breakfast was great. The rooms are really nice, though everything looks much older than it is, and it seems they don’t take proper cleaning very seriously. The staff are friendly, but sometimes a bit confused.