Hotel Regina Palace

Most reviews on here echo my own thoughts. A superbly located hotel clinging on to traditional values of service, decorum and taste. Our week???s stay was started with 3 days of rain and other than the indoor pool/spa the hotel doesn???t have anything to entertain guests. Can???t recall seeing any children though during our stay. Most of the guests are, eerherm, elderly shall we say and many were travelling as part of an organised group tour party. Perhaps their expectations, and criticisms, are different to independent travellers such as ourselves. We were in room 104 overlooking the lake with a private balcony. Only issue was lack of tea/coffee making facilities which for a hotel of this status is poor. We experienced no issues with noise from other rooms.Contrary to what others have said we found the front desk staff to be courteous, professional and tackled any issues we had with respect and efficiency. Restaurant staff seemed to outnumber diners at times and when the weather improved we enjoyed dining outside on the terrace. The food was of high quality, varied and we always enjoyed the typical Italian dishes that featured daily. As for breakfast, if you didn???t enjoy the vast range of options on offer, all I can say is you must be very picky or hard to please. One area for improvement is the pathways to the outdoor pool with uneven tiles and very slippy when wet. My wife actually tripped and fell, thankfully without harm. The pool is ok, no problem getting sun beds. We did the 3 island trips not appreciating when booking that in addition to the ???15 per person two of the islands charge ???20 to visit the house/gardens. We also rode the little ???Noddy??? train that does a 30 min trip around Stresa and this was very pleasant. The Friday market is good for leather goods, clothes but I wouldn???t say good value. The other trip we did was a disaster - the Centovalli train/boat trip to Locarno. From Stresa station we travelled to Domodossola where we had a 90 minute stop over. This pretty town had a market (Saturday) and we strolled around and had a drink in a cafe. So far, so good. Then we boarded the ???Centovalli Express??? for a 2 hour journey through what we had been told was breathtaking scenery, magnificent views of the Alps, mountain villages and Lord knows how many bridges and tunnels. The reality is, as I should have guessed, the view from one side of the carriage was of sheer rock face and from the other a forest of trees, interspersed occasionally with clear views of towns and villages but quickly replaced by the rock face and tree flora. The seats were incredibly uncomfortable and the on board service was a tired looking selection of snacks on a trolley. We only had 1 hr 20 mins to explore Locarno so not much was seen. The return journey, by boat, was due to leave at 4pm, but a 4.45 we were still queuing in the rain. When we did set off the speed of the boat was noticeably slow. It transpired that one of the engines wasn???t working and we were going to have to change boats. No announcements were made to advise of this and it was only by overhearing a tour group operator advising her party that we found out what was going on. We limped into somewhere, everyone got off and waited in the rain for the replacement boat to show up. Eventually we got back to Stresa 2 hours late, soaked through, tired and hungry. The rest of the holiday was spent by the pool as the weather improved. One evening before dinner, we went to the Sky Bar at the hotel next to Regina Palace (The Boutique I think) for cocktails. Later discovered a week???s stay there is ???5000 and the cocktails are not much cheaper. Just gaining access was more demanding than going through passport control. Most pretentious place I???ve ever been in. Having seen Stresa I don???t think I???d go back, actually preferred Lake Garda which we visited 2 years ago.

The 1900 bar, the grotto pool Sporting Club, old fashioned luxury and fabulous location tickled our fancies. It is a place we wish to revisit. Do book for breakfast if you like freshly baked pecan danish and squeezed orange juice. Affogato for 10??? whereas the espresso goes for 3??? and the vanilla (???no, we don???t have chocolate ice cream at the pool bar???), one shot of ice cream hardly larger than a golf ball was in our humble opinion the only really disappointing experience.