Grand Hotel Menaggio - Menaggio, Italy 

When we arrived at the hotel (07/07/08) we were horrified to see that the latest remark in the comments book was so derogatory...however, it would appear that they were the only people that felt that way. The location is unrivalled in the town of Menaggio and you can walk down some steps from the pool onto a jetty on the Lake. This place was beautiful. Yes, the majority of guests staying at the hotel were nearing if not over, pensionable age and we are 27 and 29, but why would that bother you when the place is just so romantic. We had the best time here, a lot due to the Grand Hotel menaggio. We had board with breakfast and the bacon was very good! Our room was roadside with a balcony but we still had huge mountains to view from our room. The staff were very courteous, bringing out glasses of wine to me while the other half took advantage of the swimming pool. The weather was delightful. We loved it here and would thoroughly recommend it...we are saving for our trip back already!

This hotel took us for a wild ride and didn't seem to care how badly they were screwing us! We booked our one night hotel stay two months earlier directly through the hotel's website which cost us $350. We arrived at 6pm only to be told that our room "had been given away" and that "there are no other rooms available". I demanded to know what had happened to our room as we had already paid for it two months earlier. They kindly informed us that "We have made you a reservation in our sister hotel in a neighboring town." Returning all of our luggage back in the car, we arrived at the Grand Hotel Mennagio only to find out that it was an inferior hotel where the average age of the hotel guest is 70. They gave us a first floor room that was very basic to say the least and whose view of the lake was obstructed by a tree. When I complained, I was told that there were "no other rooms available". We tried to shrug off the dissappointment and went for dinner at a restaurant that the concierge highly recommended. The restaurant turned out to be a downright aweful tourist trap--(my fish cannoli dish was tasteless and loaded with fish bones and my fiance got ravioli when she ordered the risotto--when this was brought to the attention of the waitor, he only argued with us). Still trying to shrug this fiasco off, we decided to take a romantic bath together--the room had no showers! When we turned on the jets, lots of black residue came pouring in. We had to drain the tub and then refill it again without using the jets. Just as I was about to get in, I got drenched with buckets of water pouring in through the ceiling from the upstairs bathroom! Turns out that the elderly couple upstairs filled their tub to the brim and then both got into it at the same time causing it to overflow. Believe it or not, the aggravation didn't end there! The next morning at 8:30 am, just as I had gotten out of the tub and was butt-naked, the maid barges in without knocking! We were so eager to leave that hotel and cared nothing for exploring it's amenities in any way! We were not even told that breakfast was included. To sum it up, I believe that they were not honest! They clearly did not care and made no attempts to make things right. It was a pure aggravating nightmare on a gorgeous lake that was supposed to be relaxing!