I need to start with a confession because if I don’t, this whole article will feel like one of those sanitized travel brochures you find at a dentist’s office. In 2019, I tried to do Lake Como “on a budget.” I booked this depressing little Airbnb in Lecco because it was $110 a night and I thought I was being smart. I thought, “Hey, it’s the same lake, right?” Wrong. I spent four days staring at a concrete wall, listening to freight trains rumble past my window at 3 AM, and spending exactly 14 hours on ferries just to get to the places I actually wanted to see. I felt like a complete idiot. I had flown halfway across the world to sit in what looked like a suburban office park in New Jersey, just with better bread.
That failure taught me something important about this place: Lake Como is not a destination where you try to find a “hidden gem” or a bargain. If you go to Como, you go to be a bit of a cliché. You go for the drama. And the drama is expensive. Most of the “best hotels lake como” lists you read are written by people who got a free night in exchange for a nice Instagram post. I paid for my mistakes in cold, hard cash. So, here is the actual, unpolished truth about where to put your suitcase.
The Bellagio mistake and why I kind of hate it
I know people will disagree with me on this—and honestly, half my friends already have—but I think staying in Bellagio is a massive mistake. It’s the Disney World of the lake. It’s the place where every tour bus empties out, and by 2 PM, you can barely walk down the Salita Serbelloni without getting hit by a selfie stick. There is a specific smell in Bellagio in July—a mix of expensive perfume and desperation—that makes me want to jump into the water and swim to Switzerland.
What I mean is—actually, let me put it differently. If you stay in Bellagio, you are in the middle of the noise. The whole point of the lake is to look at the pretty things from a distance. If you’re standing in the middle of the postcard, you can’t see the postcard. Plus, the hotels there are generally overpriced for what you get, relying on their 50-year-old reputations while the carpets get thinner every year. Total tourist trap.
Don’t stay in Bellagio. Just don’t.
If you have the money, just go to Villa d’Este
There is no point in being subtle about this. Villa d’Este in Cernobbio is the gold standard, and it’s also incredibly annoying how good it is. I wanted to hate it. I wanted to find something wrong with it so I could tell you to go somewhere “cooler” and more “boutique.” But I can’t. Staying at Villa d’Este is like wearing your grandfather’s oversized gold watch—it’s heavy, it’s a bit much, and it’s definitely not modern, but you feel like a more important version of yourself the moment you put it on.
I tracked the service here during a lunch visit last year. A waiter noticed a guest’s sunglasses were slightly smudged and brought over a microfiber cloth on a silver tray without being asked. That’s the level we’re talking about. The floating pool is the only place to be seen, even if the water is slightly too cold for my taste. You’re going to pay at least $1,400 a night, and you’ll probably feel like a peasant compared to the guy docking his Riva boat out front, but it’s the only hotel on the lake that actually lives up to the hype.
Pro tip: If you can’t afford the room, just go for a drink on the terrace. It’ll cost you $30 for a Negroni, but it’s the cheapest way to buy the feeling of being a 1950s movie star for an hour.
The modern stuff (and why I changed my mind)
I used to think modern architecture had no place on Lake Como. I thought everything should look like a neo-classical villa with crumbling statues and ivy. I was completely wrong.
Il Sereno changed that for me. It’s in Torno, which is a much quieter part of the lake. It’s all wood, stone, and glass. It looks like something a Bond villain would own if he had really good taste and an interest in sustainable forestry. I stayed there for two nights and the silence was almost unsettling. No creaky floorboards. No dusty curtains. Just massive windows that make the lake look like a sheet of hammered lead in the morning light.
I will say this though: the restaurant at Il Sereno is a bit too “fancy” for its own good. I don’t need my dinner to be explained to me for six minutes by a man in a tuxedo. Sometimes you just want a bowl of pasta that doesn’t look like a science experiment. But the hotel itself? Flawless. It’s the only place that feels like it belongs in this century. Worth every cent.
The part nobody talks about: The “Grand Hotel” trap
This is where I’m going to be genuinely unfair. I refuse to recommend the Grand Hotel Tremezzo. I know, I know—everyone loves it. It’s iconic. It’s got that bright orange vibe. But I personally can’t stand it because the orange umbrellas remind me of a specific brand of cheap orange soda I choked on as a kid. It’s a completely irrational, personal bias, but every time I see a photo of that terrace, my throat tightens up.
Beyond my weird trauma, there’s also the fact that Tremezzo feels a bit like a factory. A very high-end, beautiful factory, but a factory nonetheless. They move people in and out with a level of efficiency that feels slightly corporate. If you want to feel like a “guest,” go to Passalacqua instead. It’s owned by the same family, but it only has 24 rooms. It’s located in Moltrasio, and it’s basically a private home that happens to have a staff.
- Passalacqua: Best for feeling like you inherited a villa from a long-lost Italian aunt.
- Villa d’Este: Best for old-world snobbery (the good kind).
- Il Sereno: Best for people who hate floral wallpaper.
- Mandarin Oriental: Honestly? It’s fine. It’s a bit generic for the price, but the spa is decent.
Anyway, I’m getting off track. The point is that you have to choose your side of the lake carefully. I spent a whole afternoon timing the sun—yes, I am that person—and the western shore gets about 90 minutes more direct sunlight in the evening than the eastern shore. If you stay in Varenna, you’re in the shade by 5 PM. If you stay in Cernobbio or Moltrasio, you get that golden hour that makes everyone look like they’ve been airbrushed. That 90 minutes is worth an extra $200 on the room rate alone.
Is it actually worth it?
I struggle with this. Part of me wants to tell you to save your money and go to Lake Garda or Lake Iseo. They are 30% cheaper and the mountains are just as tall. But they don’t have the same… soul? No, that’s too poetic. They don’t have the same arrogance. Lake Como is arrogant. It knows it’s the best, and it treats you accordingly.
The last time I was there, I woke up at 6 AM and sat on a stone wall in Moltrasio. The water was perfectly flat, and the only sound was a small fishing boat way out in the middle. I realized then that I wasn’t thinking about my job or my mortgage or the fact that I’d paid $9 for a mediocre espresso the day before. I was just… there. It’s a rare feeling.
I still don’t know if the ferry to Varenna runs past 10 PM on Tuesdays in the shoulder season—the schedules are written in a way that suggests they don’t actually want you to understand them—but I guess that’s part of the charm. Or part of the annoyance. I can never quite decide which one it is.
Just don’t stay in Lecco. Seriously.