I feel bad giving this a low rating because the woman who seemed to run the place was SO wonderful.
The rooms were clean, the place was adorable from the outside, and the WiFi worked fine. I'd only recommend staying here if you don't want to leave it. Ever.
It is atop a large, steep hill (read: don't think about renting a bike here unless you're training for Tour de France), and the ride down the hill to the lake is about 4 miles. The bus stop nearby only runs once every 3 hours on average, and the last bus back up to the Grotto is at 6:30pm. I wish I had known the bus schedule before booking this hotel. I assumed it would be as efficient as all the trains in the country.
We walked down the hill once, which took a little over an hour, and the cab ride back up the hill is about 37 Francs, or $40. Pricey, for a 4 mile drive! Even for Switzerland prices.
The first night we were there, we had just dropped $40 on a cab, because we were too late to catch the last bus up there. There was nothing else in terms of a town on top of that hill, so we decided to eat dinner at the Grotto. The prices were "normal" for Switzerland, and we got a prix-fixe dinner, and every dish was WAY over salted. It may have been the worst meal of our trip.
Also, just FYI, this hotel is not actually in Lugano. It is in Agra, the next town over. That caused some confusion with our cab driver. read more
