Belvedere

Located on a small, beautiful island with easy access from Stresa or Baveno with the boat, this place had everything we need. The rooms are modern and clean. We had a very good breakfast with a beautiful view at the lake. The staff helped us with everything.

A small group of us stayed here one night. Everything was perfect. Biggest shower I’ve seen in Italy, great breakfast with attentive staff. Front desk staff were also super friendly. The island was a great place to explore. The only thing I regret was that we didn’t eat dinner at the Belvedere, the group wanted to try somewhere else, and the other place was a bit of a disappointment. I highly recommend the Belvedere. Remember, you get out what you put in on an experience.

With my best friend, we wanted to visit the Borromee Islands and booked a 2-night stay at Belvedere. I had several exchanges with Cristina who is very prompt to reply. We arrived last Thursday (Oct; 12). The hotel is close to the ferry. Anyway, the island is very small. We had booked the one and only one suite. What a treat! The suite 301 is on the last floor. Beautiful decoration in shades of blue and 2 amazing terraces, including one facing the lake. The bathroom is just incredible; A huge bathtub from which you can see the lake and an Italian shower (big shower). Mini bar was complimentary. The quality of the towels was great and the vanities from l'Occitane. The room was bright, tidy and so quiet. The only sound was the silence.... The staff is very nice. Cristina had organized our transfer from Milan Malpensa and the driver was top notch. Breakfast on the terrace was divine. We had our first dinner at Belvedere (see specific review about our dinner). I definitely plan to come back to Belvedere next year early April!

After deciding to put Lake Maggiore on our (two couples) Italy travel destination list, we then worked to find the most ideal location on the lake to stay. At first, our thought was to stay on the mainland in Stresa and avoid being more isolated on one of the Borromean Islands. However, we chose instead to stay on the island of Pescatori at the Hotel Belvedere. Turned out to be an ideal choice. The ferry transportation getting from place to place around Stresa and the nearby islands is so simple, we wondered why we had even been concerned. The Belvedere was an absolute pleasure-spacious rooms with the best bathrooms, super-comfy bedding and pillows (we are in our 70s so we're pretty picky) and awesome views over Lake Maggiore. Their restaurant is 5* and their service staff could not have been any nicer. The breakfasts were perfect (buffet style and good choice of cooked food) and the dinners were fantastic. We were in room 102 with french doors to a deck and large windows on the lakeside wall. Could not have found a better place!

It’s rather exciting arriving at Hotel Belvedere, and feeling the sensation of staying on a small island miles from home. Most of the staff were welcoming and friendly, and our room (JuniorSuite) was absolutely fabulous. Breakfasts were delicious, although the birds on the breakfast terrace were detrimental to the ambience. They kept standing on the tables, and eating directly from peoples’ plates. We were constantly gently waving them away, but some guests were actively encouraging them by feeding them on the table. We chose the half board option, which was a very good decision. We had a three course dinner each evening. The starters and desserts were lovely, but we struggled with the main courses. My husband had the pork dish on the first evening, and it was lovely, but when we both ordered the same dish on the second evening, we both found it to be inedible and the sauce was rather unpleasant. Such a shame, as everything else was lovely. Overall; a lovely stay.

The place is gorgeous and the room was perfect, clean with everything you would need (minus a fridge). But the welcoming was not as satisfying, and when we arrived, the lady at the reception said they would keep our IDs until at least the next morning… I never heard anything like that before, you should never be out there without an ID, especially out of your country! We didn’t like that at all. Then we went to have dinner in Stresa and we were told they could organize a boat for us to get back on the island. The boat for two was 24€, it’s 3x the normal cost of regular boats on the day: theft. But the funny part was that the boat didn’t come to get us in stresa, we had to walk 20 minutes to Carciano, otherwise we would have to pay a supplement of… 30€!!!! So we walked and half way they called us to say they would pick us up in stresa without the extra cost, but we were already walking so we did not accept. The next day we had dinner at their restaurant. It was pure disappointment and way too expensive. The antipasti of fishes tasted like can food, all vinegary and the presentation was not good. The pasta was ok, but the meat (baby pork meat) was dry and stiff as it had been cooked the previous day, sauce had no taste, and potatoes had the taste of reheat food. We paid 160€ for two but we were really disappointed. Then we wanted to pay in advance the night before leaving, so we could just leave fast and early the next day, they did not accept. The next morning they had a problem with their printer… And to wrap it up just fine, the taxi they booked for us from Stresa to the station did not show up! So all in all we would not recommend this place other than for a drink at night (yes the bar is closed during the day… with this view, too bad!).