Before I begin, I want to be clear: I am not the type to leave negative reviews. In fact, I usually take the time only to share positive feedback and highlight what businesses are doing well. Unfortunately, in this case, I feel compelled to offer a constructive review, because our experience at Relais Villa Vittoria in Lake Como was deeply disappointing—and not at all what we expected from a property rated as a four-star hotel. We arrived before check-in, which we knew was early, but we were told we’d be notified as soon as our room was ready. We decided to wait by the pool with our two children. Unfortunately, the pool area would not serve any lunch or snacks, even though snacks were listed on the menu—they apparently aren’t available until after 6 PM. Our kids were already in their bathing suits, so we couldn’t just head upstairs for lunch due to them being wet and in bathing suits. Eventually, we were told the upstairs restaurant would be closing early due to a wedding, so we rushed up in hopes of grabbing something before it shut down. Only at that point were we told, almost as an afterthought, that our room was ready. The front desk staff, particularly one woman, was neither helpful nor welcoming. It quickly became apparent that this is not a family-friendly hotel. While the property might market itself as luxurious, it seemed clear that guests with children were not exactly embraced. When we got to our room, we found multiple issues. There was broken glass on the floor, a damaged TV stand in the second bedroom, a broken mirror stand, and a telescope that couldn’t be used because its brackets were broken. The air conditioning didn’t work despite our repeated requests to have it checked. We were told it was working—but it clearly wasn’t. Thankfully, we were able to sleep with the windows open due to cooler weather at night. The beds were also quite uncomfortable. The bathroom situation was another disappointment. The “shower” is actually a bathtub with a narrow, glass cylinder partition—making it virtually unusable. My husband, who is 6’4”, couldn’t even fit. On top of that, only one of the showerheads worked; the rest were broken. But perhaps the most frustrating part of our stay was the hotel’s wedding schedule. What we didn’t realize—and what’s not made very clear upfront—is that Relais Villa Vittoria functions more like a wedding venue with hotel rooms than the other way around. There was a wedding every single night during our stay- let’s call it a wedding carousel. Each one took over the entire property, spanning all three levels, and effectively blocked guests from using the grounds. We were essentially confined to our rooms each evening due to the noise, crowds, and exclusivity of the events. And given the hotel’s fairly remote location, there’s nowhere else convenient to go in the evenings. On a more positive note, the servers and hotel staff (outside of the front desk) were very kind, and the food was okay—not amazing, but dec
