Locanda Di Orta

In summer, the mosquitoes in Orta were relentless, aggressive, and seemed immune to repellent. I've traveled around parts of Asia and never encountered mosquitoes like this. It felt like a siege, and the lake and I are done for good. The hotel itself is adequate for a three-star place: clean, nicely decorated, and with some rustic charm. But you can't drive up to it. Parking is far uphill, and getting down means walking over uneven old stone paths. A large suitcase is a pain to drag along. The rooms are also quite small, perhaps typical of a historic town, but not very comfortable. It might suit someone traveling light who doesn't mind the hike, but Orta in summer? Never again.

We booked one of their private balconies, but the table was too small for all the bread and plates. They didn't ask whether they could clear away the three bread dishes we had stopped eating. Service was a disaster, the food was cold, and it definitely didn't feel like a Michelin Star experience. We've eaten at many Michelin Star rated restaurants, and this was by far the worst. It took a long time for anyone to take our order, even though we'd booked three a la carte courses. The Champagne offered to us had hardly any bubbles. When we asked about it, the Sommelier said Champagne normally doesn't have many bubbles, which was news to us. We both had pasta for the second course, and both servings were lukewarm. We didn't complain, but ate only half. My turbot arrived cold, so I asked for it to be served again. While I waited, my partner finished his lukewarm meat. When my fish came back, it was still lukewarm, and I no longer felt like eating alone.

The food was incredible, and the other staff were mostly wonderful: attentive and speaking English throughout, which I appreciated because my Italian couldn't quite stretch to all the courses we received. But the meal began badly and got worse. I can't recommend the restaurant. We've eaten at Michelin star restaurants around the world, and this was by far our worst experience. We didn't stay, so I can't comment on the rooms. When we arrived for our restaurant reservation, chef Andrea was at the door. I thought it was a nice touch at first, but he was abrupt and rude, saying our booking was for the bistro, not the restaurant, and pointing us to the lift. We checked with another staff member before getting in, and they confirmed we were booked for the restaurant and showed us to our table. That could have meant a €200 no-show fee if we'd followed his directions. The room felt stuffy and was so quiet that conversation was hard. We found ourselves whispering, as were other tables. We ordered a tasty bottle of wine, but fruit flies kept coming to our table and landing in the glasses. My partner asked them to clear two glasses and I asked them to remove one. Eventually we asked them to stop pouring the wine because dealing with flies in our drinks was tiring and frankly disgusting. When we asked for the wine to be discounted or removed from the bill, since we had to discard three glasses plus whatever was left in the bottle, the staff member said her manager had told her this absolutely wouldn't happen. The wine was fine, she said, and they didn't know where the flies had come from, as if we had brought them in our pockets. A meal that should have been wonderful was spoiled by the chef's bad welcome and the restaurant's failure to keep flies away, then refusal to acknowledge how unpleasant it was.

The food was very good, and the staff were great. Still, it was a really disappointing experience. Andrea greeted us at reception and rather rudely said we were booked for the bistro, not the restaurant. We checked with the restaurant staff by the lift, who confirmed we had a restaurant booking after all. There were flies in three glasses of red wine. After the third fly showed up in the third glass, I asked them to stop serving it. When the bill came, they refused to discount the wine, which surprised me. Andrea could learn a thing or two about treating customers and might benefit from seeing how other restaurants handle things.