Il Porticciolo

The rooms were clean, apparently thanks to an outside company, but otherwise this was a zero-star experience for us. The owners came across as arrogant, rude, and annoying. The standard rooms weren't worth what we paid, and even the Michelin star restaurant didn't meet what I'd expected. The balconies were poorly kept, and the lake smell was so strong it was hard to breathe.

After a long, exhausting drive, my wife and I arrived late to a lovely room with a comfortable bed, bathtub, air conditioning, and a bright view of lago Maggiore. Breakfast had plenty to choose from, including Ciabatta, Croissants, (sourdough) bread, scrambled eggs, bacon, fruit, and yogurt. The location first caught our attention, but the whole experience won us over, from the pastries, Italian ham and cheeses to the view we woke up to.

We had a wonderful, romantic weekend and will definitely return. Our room was spacious, comfortable, newly refurbished, and had a good-sized balcony with an impressive lake view. The helpful staff spoke good English, which was useful since my Italian is woeful, and arranged several things for us, including a lake tour. The hotel is attached to a superb restaurant, which I'll review separately. Its own pontoon made it easy to catch a water taxi, a lovely way to travel. Laveno is a charming small town, about a five-minute walk along the road.

The views and setting are lovely, and the place has plenty of potential, but I wouldn't return or recommend it because of the host's attitude. We stayed one night in August while driving from Switzerland to Italy. After booking at the last minute, we arrived around 9pm and asked to eat at the restaurant. We were seated, but couldn't use any of the empty tables by the water because they were reserved for set menus, and none were occupied while we were there. The owner was rude and unfriendly, especially the next day when we wanted to swim in the lake from the jetty. We had picked the hotel for its “spa”, but the steam room and sauna weren't on when we visited. When we tried to buy glasses of Prosecco to take to the spa, we stood waiting to pay for quite a while and were ignored. I left an honest review on trip adviser and got a pretty awful message from the owner in reply.