Normally I am a lurker on YELP. I use the reviews of others to help us decide on where we will stay or eat. However, at this time I am compelled to come out of the shadows and comment on our experience at the newly opened iL Sereno Hotel on Lake Como.
The hotel is in a beautiful location, it is serene and private. An excellent location to get away from crowds and the hustle and bustle of everyday life. Truly peaceful. If that were the only criteria for a 1000 euro per night hotel, I would say that this hotel deserves top marks.
The restaurant serves tasty food and has an excellent wine list. The wait staff is professional and eager to provide efficient service without interruptions and unnecessary hovering.
A word of caution, one should arrive by taxi (or car service with driver), boat, pontoon plane or helicopter rather than one's own car because the road into the hotel location is narrow and in parts, only allows for one way traffic. Don't even consider a car of any kind at night.
Now the "not so good" stuff. The hotel is just opened and as such is experiencing growing pains. The painting was not finished in our bathroom. The flushing mechanism for the toilet was not quite attached to the wall and did not work all the time. There was no phone directory in the room. Room service never answered the phone, we had to go through reception to get someone to answer. (There is more to add here but this is turning into a rant and that is not our intention, we are just angry that we spent too much for a weak hotel experience)
At check out in the morning, we felt terrible for the wonderful young lady struggling with the hotel's computer system trying to get us on our way. We presented our credit card and passports upon CHECK IN, but she had no record of this at CHECK OUT because the system had not updated. She was forced to write down our Amex number for updating our account later in the day. I agreed to this against my better judgement as numbers have a way of wandering.
Is this the way we expected to be treated and served in an expensive hotel? Not really, I am sorry to say that we will not go back as a result of our first experience. Yes it is exclusive, yes it is private and yes they hosted a celebrity wedding. It is a poorly run facility, that has managed to miss the benefit of providing world class service and building the foundation for a stellar reputation.
We feel disappointed and duped. Perhaps I should say, "shame on us" for trusting this hotel.
We feel that our money is better spent at Villa d'Este, where value and service go hand in hand. read more