Hilton Lake Como Review

For our last hurrah of the summer we decided to go back to Italy and visit Lake Como. The beautiful pictures of the lake and the thoughts of the great Italian food we ate earlier in the year made it a no-brainer. We decided on the Hilton Lake Como as it looked an interesting and relatively new property just outside the centre of Como plus as diamond members we would get free breakfast.

Location

The hotel is approximately an hour or so out of Milan Malpensa airport by train to Como Lago station (with a change at Saronno.) From Como Lago station it’s approximately a 20 minute walk or a short taxi/bus ride to the Hilton Lake Como. If arriving with suitcases rather than small luggage I would highly recommend booking a taxi as some of the paths to the hotel are very narrow and the bus isn’t particularly regular.

The Hilton Lake Como isn’t a lake front hotel as you might think by the marketing or looking at the images. It’s set back from the edge of the Lake behind a row of buildings on the other side of the road. Directly around the hotel isn’t much of interest, it’s a short distance from Villa Olmo (which is well worth a visit.) There is a 24 hour supermarket a 10 minute walk towards Como. Everything else including shops, markets and things such as the funicular are all in central Como and are a 20 minute walk from the hotel.

Transport wise it also has a bus stop within a few hundred metres which will either take you into Como or around the west side of the Lake. Tickets can be purchased from the small cafe just up the road past the Hilton. For the ferry to other parts of the lake it’s a 20 minute walk to the port.

Hilton Lake Como

The building looks impressive and still very new as you approach the entrance. To the left hand side as you walk in is a bar/lounge area (Taffeta) and to the right hand side is the concierge desk and reception desk. Check in was pain free and easy, due to the hotel being full we weren’t offered an upgrade. Reception informed us of the breakfast offering as Diamond members and also that we could use the spa for free (access is normally 29 euros a person.) A member of staff then walked us to our room, I assume they do this because there are certain lifts that go to certain floors & they are in different locations in the hotel. Ours was through the lounge and down past the Satin restaurant. If they left you to your own devices you might end up lost!

The Room

Our deluxe room was based on the 3rd floor of the hotel. As you walked in directly in front of you was the bathroom.

To the left is a good size wardrobe. On the left hand a small area with a shelf and chest of drawers and on the right hand side space to hang clothing with slippers, gowns, room safe and iron with ironing board provided.

As you walk into the main space of the room on the right side you’ll see the bed (which was very comfortable) in the centre of the room with bedside tables either side.

To the left of the bed by the balcony window there is a small table & chair and to the right there is also a lounging chair with small table which had a welcome gift of prosecco which retailed for around 15 euros. In the right hand corner there was a mini fridge and tea/coffee facilities etc.

Opposite the bed is the TV with a few English channels & the sliding balcony doors. The balcony had 2 chairs and a table with a view over the courtyard and towards the Funicular and was very pleasant to sit on in the early mornings or late evenings

Overall the room was spacious and modern as you might expect from a hotel that has only been open a few years. There was however already damage visible to certain areas of the room (scuffs on flooring and wardrobes.) The air conditioning isn’t great either, we were very warm in a mild September!

The Bathroom

The bathroom was a reasonable size and had a bath tub as well as a rain forest shower. The shower and toilet are separate behind an additional sliding door. The shower water pressure was good and there were Crabtree and Evelyn toiletries provided.

Pool

The infinity pool with views over Lake Como is marketed as one of the highlights of the hotel. Visiting in September, even with some very good days of weather, the pool was remarkably quiet. It has some nice views over the lake (but remember this is not from a lake front property) and was heated to a very mild temperature.

Behind the pool is a row of sunbeds & to the left of the pool (if you are facing the lake) is a small Jacuzzi which is pleasant. If you go around to the left hand side of the rooftop there is also a medium size area for sunbeds. I can imagine in peak dates such as the summer holiday you will struggle to get a sunbed.

Reaching the rooftop for the pool may end up confusing you… Depending on where you are located in the hotel you might have to either walk around the hotel to find the lift for the rooftop or return to the ground floor to walk around the hotel to access it!

Spa

Diamond members have free access to the Spa on the ground level of the hotel. (Normally it costs 29 euros a person.) Whilst it was pleasant I didn’t really rate the facilities as it was very busy. They had run out of gowns, there was no free beds to use and the pool, sauna and steam room where small. We attempted to book a massage but unfortunately there was no availability.

Breakfast

As a diamond member we was offered complimentary breakfast in the Satin Restaurant on the ground floor. (Unfortunately the weather wasn’t quite warm enough to eat in the courtyard!) Here you’ll find a good selection of pastries, bread, continental meats, salad, fruit, yogurts and cooked options such as bacon, sausages and eggs etc! There is also a little gluten free section with muffins, crackers and biscuits. We wasn’t informed and discovered by chance there is also an a la carte menu you can also order from free of charge and includes things such as omelettes, porridge and waffles. We enjoyed breakfast and would say it would easy match any other Hilton we’ve stayed in.

Food at Terrazza 241

We ate several times at Terrazza 241 for convenience after a late arrival and to enjoy the rooftop view, though taking pictures of the food completely escaped my mind! It can get busy so if you want a seat in a favourable location I would recommend booking a table. Your view will consist partly of one of the suite’s terraces & a few surrounding building too however 😉

The food was very good, tasty and was at a reasonable cost. They also offered all the pasta dishes but one with gluten free pasta plus most of the meat based dishes had gluten free alternatives too.

Conclusion

Overall we thoroughly enjoyed our time at the Hilton Lake Como. It’s location might be a slight hiccup to some as it’s a 20 minute walk to the centre of Como. Taxi would be around the 10 euro mark or if you can make the bus timings work for you it’s very cheap. The rooms are clean and modern, the roof top pool was very nice and we were treated well by staff! We would happily come back again, we paid around 580 euros for 3 nights (as opposed to 915 euros) thanks to a Hilton Price Match. Redemption’s are currently capped at a maximum of 80,000 points a night. For more details and booking click through here. – https://www3.hilton.com/en/hotels/italy/hilton-lake-como-MXPCOHI/index.html