Villa D'este Hotel

Excellent, but slightly too expensive, Room with a very comfortable bed but not wonderful Excellent service and a very good breakfast. At the Platano restaurant, the fish was served to me overcooked and, despite the number of staff, the service was distracted. The Concierge was very kind, despite his funny suit, the young colleague was less efficient. Dream location and fairytale garden, the pool on the lake is beautiful.

With the exception of our executive guest room at 2100 Euros/night, our stay at Villa D’Este was magical. The property is magnificent, the service first class, and the experience is second to none. The restaurants are great and the food and wine were excellent. I would recommend staying here to anyone! Having said that, everything at the Villa D’Este is very expensive! Our “executive” room, with a partial lake view, was small, tired, and unimpressive. The room was comfortable but lacked storage space and the basics (in-room coffee/tea) one would expect from a 5-star luxury property at this price level. Nevertheless, the hotel definitely lives up to its reputation and I would definitely stay here again!

In the past, I had already had the privilege of dining at Villa d'Este. I often frequented the bar after dinner to go have a last drink before sleeping, and I had a few aperitifs there. So I knew well what I was getting into. I knew that the service and the quality would not disappoint me, just as it is impossible to be disappointed by the property and the location. Truly impossible. Just seeing the bathrooms is enough: the bathrooms are practically small suites, so imagine everything else! Every year Villa d'Este, for the American holiday of July 4th, organizes a themed dinner, complete with a show and fireworks. To be able to describe the evening, I need to arm myself with a dictionary and look for the exact terms to do it justice. Having established that the location is breathtaking, as already mentioned — but it really is so beautiful that I could go on for hours repeating it — the aperitif before the start of the dinner was a very positive beginning. I hadn't imagined it like that and it surprised me a lot. Waiters with trays in their hands full of glasses of champagne — there was other stuff too, but I, having nothing against champagne, dedicated myself to that and honestly I don't know what else they were serving. You wouldn't even have time to finish your glass before the waiter would materialize in front of you, either with the bottle to refill your glass or with the tray to offer you one. The appetizers that were going around were a sight for the eyes and a joy for the palate, a balance and a flavor from the Arabian Nights. I felt like I was in a movie, like in those TV series where in the morning a person gets up and says "tonight we're throwing a party" and in the evening the whole city is at the private party! Beautiful, beautiful people. I feasted my eyes seeing so much elegance: the women in dresses and the men dressed like men. I think it's worth it just for that, to see that class and elegance again that the world has forgotten. The table was a little jewel. Set with candles and fresh flowers, it was a real treat. Fixed menu with water and wine included. You certainly won't leave hungry or thirsty. The portions were just right, and the glasses were never, ever empty, not even for a second: they were promptly refilled with both water and wine. Fixed menus and beautiful locations, as we know, sometimes disappoint. Just think of New Year's Eve, where you often pay a lot and eat poorly, so the thought that something similar could happen here had crossed our minds. We ask the chef for forgiveness for even thinking it! Everything was truly perfect. Dinner passed with flying colors! I thought it would be one of those once-in-a-lifetime experiences, but we had such a good time and everything was so wonderful that it might just become our tradition too. A regular appointment where, for one evening, everything around you is just magic and beauty.