Parco San Marco

We were looking for a low-stress place for ourselves, kids, and grandkids. Parco San Marco proved ideal in every way. Service was unobtrusive, yet very helpful when needed. The food was consistently good. The entire facility was well set up for multi-generation parties. Our young grandsons loved the family meals (Feeding carrots to the two donkeys became a daily after-breakfast ritual). The boys spent an afternoon at the kids' camp and made some friends there. On another day, we spend an afternoon at the lakeshore with more kids and adults. The whole staff seems to work well with kids. However, there's plenty there for adults who just want to chill out. My wife and I spent some pleasant hours by the "relax pool", just reading and taking dips there. There's also an indoor spa and an outdoor "kids' pool" with slides and fountains. It was an easy walk down the road to another restaurant and to nearby Porlezza. We took the family on a boat ride across the lake to visit the cave there. Another day, we went over to Lake Como and a boat ride to Bellagio. There's a lovely bar, right next to the dining area; but we didn't make use of it. I strongly recommend Parco San Marco for a great family vacation; or for a couple!

The resort is on Lake Lugano and the view of the lake is really beautiful. The hotel is billed as a lifestyle resort- not sure what that means. But you could spend your entire stay there never leaving the resort. There was a pool, sauna and steam rooms, a gym and some shops in addition to several restaurants. When we were there we saw several families with small children. The two restaurants that were open separated families with small children from older people which seemed to work very well. The buffet breakfast was wonderful and we also enjoyed dinner there the night we stayed. I thought the room was too warm and the air conditioning hadn't been turned on yet. We opened the windows but it didn't help that much. We went to Lugano for an afternoon, which is nearby and very beautiful. There are many high end clothing stores there and nice cafes. It is easy to drive to Lugano although you go from Italy to Switzerland. The border crossing is a non-event. Our room faced the lake which was certainly nice. It wasn't large but still comfortable. And we had a little patio. There is a parking garage underneath the resort for cars. I can't remember if we paid an additional fee to park there. The staff were lovely and helpful. When we checked out we were given bottles of water for our next trip- a nice touch.

I can not express enough how much of a disappointment this was. Yes, I understand it is not a 5 star hotel, but for the price you are paying, you can do MUCH better, trust me. First of all, TERRIBLE staff -- something must be wrong with management. Very rude...hate americans and are not afraid to hide it. If you need something, don't even expect the staff to help you out. Location: unconvenient! Forio has many many hotels and many have a better location. Parco San Marco looked like a run down villa (and not in a good way). The area it is in felt unsafe and there is NOTHING to do (no good shops or restaurants) and of course the staff was completely unhelpful with recommendations (they only want to try and scam you and send you to an overpriced BAD restaurant that their friends own so that they can get commission.) Facilities: The pools were terrible... VERY dirty and not maintained at all. Don't know why... I saw them cleaning it a few times but guess this was not enough. It did not make me want to take a swim...I went to a thermal spa far far away from the hotel in order to avoid catching some disease at these pools. My Room: (a double room) ....... tiny. tacky. moldy/musty and damp. I asked management for an extra pillow since they only gave us one for two people and management wanted to charge me 5 euros for a new pillow. RIDICILOUS. Warning: this hotel is money hungry and will do anything to rip you off. For example: the hotel hired us a cab to take us to the port and demanded that we pay them 30 euros and then they will later pay the taxi this. I later found out that the taxi only costs 15-20 euros and the hotel pocketed the extra money. All in all..........please do yourselves a favor and stay away. I'm very upset that a hotel had the ability to influence my experience in a beautiful place like Ischia...but it did.