Hotel Royal Victoria, by R Collection Hotels

The location is fantastic! The view from our balcony was breathtaking - straight across the lake! The hotel has a free shuttle bus that will pick you up and drop you back at the train station. The train from Milan Centrale is an easy hour journey to Varenna. From the hotel it is a 3 min walk to some restaurants and small souvenir shops - but fyi very steep steps (I held onto my mum! But she’s 77 and she made it up and down without too much bother). The hotel staff are so so friendly and even though we tried a bit of Italian - they all speak brilliant English! Cannot fault this stay. We had a junior suite and it was big, well equipped and there was a small bottle of champagne and a note on arrival - lovely touch.

The stay altogether was fine. The hotel is located good, on one side the main village piazza and stunning view of the lake on the other. Good service. Offering nice generous breakfast and we enjoyed the experience of fine dining at the Visteria and afternoon cocktails overlooking the lake (for us worth the price).

We had a room with a balcony and it was just stunning. The room was kept spotless during our stay and the breakfast was wonderful. Location right in the main piazza couldn't have been better.

It was the perfect location in the quiet town of Varenna. We loved our balcony view, the access to the botanical gardens and the incredible sunsets. The staff was exceptional. Marco helped us with a booking we made via another resource. For other travelers, please allow this hotel to manage your experiences! They have access to more at better pricing. We overpaid by not booking through the hotel.

The location, the helpfulness of Irena on reception, the size of the room and the free shuttle to the station. The breakfast was impressive but see below (in section - what didn’t you like about the property)