Castello Dal Pozzo

I will not comment anymore…. It is useless anyway.

Family trip. After a few days in Stresa, we chose this hotel to look for calm, greenery, and an experience in this castle. For the occasion, we chose the large "Castello" suite, one of the 2 largest rooms in the hotel. Let's start with the positive points: The welcome/check-in: very good, thanks to Marry and Tarek the bellhop. The "Virginia" suite: exceptional and truly lived up to our expectations. Lots of space, a very large bed, a beautiful bathroom despite a plastic shower added recently. Very beautiful view and a real feeling of splendor. Well soundproofed. The garden: magnificent and very well maintained. The pool: very good, clean, and with a lifeguard, Samuele, who is very professional and friendly. The negative points: Breakfast: really below a 5-star standard. First of all, we had to wait to be seated because there wasn't enough room. Then, you have to wait (20 minutes!) for someone to come take your order for eggs or an espresso. And the buffet products are really basic and industrial for the most part. We subsequently requested room service, which was punctual, but everything arrived cold (coffee, eggs), because everything comes from the other building and requires a long trip to reach the room. Lunch: at the pool bar. Very disappointing. Mediocre club sandwich, really bad hamburger. Industrial fries. With a high price. Difficult to understand how in a 5-star hotel, it is impossible to eat something simple, comforting and good. One senses a desire to make a maximum margin at the expense of the customer. Really a shame. Dinner: very bad food at the "Dan" restaurant which claims to be a casual grill restaurant. We waited another 30 minutes to be served then 20 minutes to get our dishes. And once served, extremely disappointed by the quality. The mixed grill platter is worthy of a highway restaurant, small portion, industrial fries. For the pasta: industrial sauce and overcooked pasta, for Italy that hurts.. The chicken: no flavor and very low quality. The price is high and the feeling of having eaten poorly. Not pleasant. For a 5-star hotel, this is not normal. Conclusion: We had a good time because we took advantage of the positive points and met some nice people but I don't think I will return, unfortunately, because the restaurant service is really too weak. We had all our meals outside afterwards. And it is a sentiment shared by many guests met on site. You can feel the owner's desire to maximize profit on the food. Which is not very classy. The customer is willing to pay the price if the food is good. And satisfying the stomachs of its customers should be an absolute priority in a hotel that calls itself 5-star. It's the owner's signature. Most of the staff is very friendly, but some are really unpleasant, and one can sometimes notice contempt and casualness toward the customer in a very visible way!.. You really get the impression of being a bother sometimes.. A great lack of qualified staff for a 5-star. I think the only point is to take the large suite in the hotel because it is truly unique. And for 1 or 2 nights maximum and spend time eating outside. But not enough as long as the catering side and the service are not significantly improved! The place is unique but poorly exploited and poorly managed. Some hotels in the same category manage it very well! Take some inspiration. Not a 5-star.

An enchanted break thanks to the quality of the welcome, the beauty of the site, the cleanliness of the premises, the excellent breakfast, and the kindness and thoughtfulness of the staff