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Back to Palace Grand Hotel Varese
Dear In Italy,
Both of my bookings worked out very well, thank you. The Palace Hotel in Varese is lovely, with attentive service and a comfortable room with a wonderful view over the lake. Milan Airport Hotel was a good spot for my last night, with an easy shuttle bus from there to the airport. My find there was the lovely restaurant right next-door to the hotel. (Sorry, I tossed out the receipt and don’t remember its name.)
We’ll definitely be using your service again in future.
Ciao!
Barbara C.
Hi,
Italy was memorable! We loved all our hotels. The Grand Palace Varese was exceptional with so much history (was once Mussolini's headquarters.) If only those walls could talk!! A word of advice: lights are not bright in these old buildings so if you like to read in bed, bring a battery powered book light. Your website was a great help. Thank you!
Joyce B. from Michigan
PS: If returning a car to the Milan train station, it is extremely difficult to locate the Auto Europe return place. This was the only rental car company which offered automatic shifts. Driving was easy once we were acclimated!
Hi Kristin,
The Varese Palace hotel was was beautiful, and as you said, convenient to Malpensa, about 30 minutes by cab. The amazing thing nearby in Sacro Monte in Varese, twelve chapels, each a station of the Cross, with life-size terracotta figures dating from the Renaissance. All leading to the medieval church at the top of the sacred mountain. Also worth noting that there are some very nice little restaurants up there with fantastic views of the countryside. You can take a funicular train down the side of the mountain, and then get on a waiting bus to Varese centro. The only possible negative about the hotel is that they can't accommodate a family of four, unless I got two rooms - not likely with this exchange!
Thanks,
Kurt H.
Dear In Italy,
I have and would always recommend your service..it was unbeatable...so fast and efficient. My only negative ..the guy at the desk at the Palace did not seem to know that I was registered there until explained that it had been made through you. My family lives in Varese and I visit often, always stay at the Palace (my treat to myself--it is fabulous) but booking through you was the easiest way I have ever experienced. Really, quick and efficient.
Here's a suggestion: if you want to really be current and hip...have someone do a special gay and lesbian guesthouse section..alternative lifestyle..whatever...those lodgings do exist in Italy! I stayed a few days in Milan this trip and have connections at OutandAbout/PlanetOut, so they helped me with lodgings..the area around the Stazione Centrale is very clubby and happening and filled with small aberggios that cater to the gay guest. I own a BandB here and advertising it in special sections actually attracts both the subsection of GLBT but also just straight people that want to stay in fun, trendy places! There is a huge gay nightlife in Rome and Florence, and some in Venice and Milan.
Thanks...and I will contact you again in the future!
Best,
Daniel B.
Dear David,
The hotel Palace Grand Varese was actually a beautiful hotel, well endowed
in its rooms and in its service. The lobby is amazing. Even from your inspiring
description I still did not imagine the hotel to be as palatial as it was.
Even so, when we checked in the desk person misread the number of the room
assigned to us and actually gave us the key to someone else's room, which
we went to and opened to discover that the room was assigned. I had to return
to the desk and inform the same desk clerk who then checked the computer
to find the error. We did have a beautiful room on the fifth floor that had
a wonderful view of the lake. The amenities of the room and bathroom were
lovely. The porter service was also well attended. The dining room was really
lovely. The food delicious. Their service was a little slow. Perhaps we were
simply very hungry and tired from our long drive from Venice, but there was
some kind of party in the back room which perhaps drew attention away from
the room we were in. The view from the dining room was also looking out on
the lake, lovely.
The breakfast buffet was what we had encountered throughout Italy, a very pleasant
array of breads and fresh, canned and stewed fruits, some cheeses, meats, and
sometimes vegetables. The thing we discovered in most of our trip is that the
italians do not seem to like their bread served warm. However, that made it
easier to resist. Since we found this to be the case regardless of the class
of restaurant, we assumed that it was just the way they do things. (Both Harry's
Bar and Danielli Hotel's restaurant and the Metropole, all in Venice, as well
as the Imperiale Hotel in Santa Margarita, all served cold bread whether in
was morning or night.)
The directions to the hotel were excellent except that the main road with traffic
lights makes it slow going even when it is not rush hour. This made my husband
worry that it would take much longer than 45 minutes to reach the Malpensa
airport in the morning. We left the hotel at 8 A.M. as a result. In fact, there
is a set of back roads to Varese clearly marked with directions back to the
highway that totally circumvent the downtown traffic. If that had been written
into your information about the driving time to the airport then we could have
left later. It took us less than 40 minutes to reach the airport, and this
was even with driving through the town before the real exit to Malpensa that
also shows as an exit to the airport, and then merges back with the highway
to the airport.
Only when my husband saw that did he say to me that we really needed to come
back and visit Varese again. It is a charming town and because we arrived in
the early evening we did not get to participate in the events of the day which
included some special fair the town happened to be holding. If we had known
in advance we might have tried to arrive earlier.
Bottom line is we had a great time in Italy and the services you provided:
the car rental, the phone, the hotel, were very well documented for the most
part and I would look to you when planning again. Your descriptions of the
Italian riviera were very helpful as well.
We did stop in Verona on our way back towards Milan to see Juliet's house and
the arena. The arena, unless you will see a show or take a special tour was
a waste of time because there is not that much to be seen since the inside
is in use. As to Juliet's house, the entire inside courtyard was encased in
plastic sheets and screens to protect the renovation that is going on. Also,
it has become the bulletin board of love notices which are tacked on to the
lowest 6 feet everywhere you look around the building. It really wrecks an
imagination's attempt to reconstruct something that took place in Shakespeare's
stolen story. At least until they finish the renovation I would warn people
that it is not the ideal time to visit and to the site I would suggest they
figure out an alternative to all the tacked notices. Definitely, they are tacky!
One other thing. I am an avid site-seer. One should warn those of us who are
trying to squeeze in extra sites that it really isn't worth it to go to a place
like Verona for less than a day or two. That 2 hours could be spent in better
ways. Anyway, this is so for me.
Also, I would like to mention these two films that American Tourists might enjoy:
A Little Romance has Americans looking for romance if they go in a gondola
under the Bridge of Sighs at sunset. I took a walking tour of Venice which
was billed to show the where abouts of the merchants, and courtesans of the
city. Because there was only one other tourist, I was able to ask a lot of
questions, including why didn't the guide books mention this fact. The guide
couldn't understand why this sunset ride had been going on but told me that
many tourists request it. She said it was not based on any fact about Venice
that she knew of. I explained the film to her and we realized together that
it was an urban legend that developed as a result of the writers' invention
of this film. Never-theless, the myth has become a reality which I actually
found in one mini guide book of maps that I brought with me on the trip. The
book is called Venice, Knoph Mapguides. This was a very useful book.
Dangerous Beauty is about the true life of courtesan Veronica Franco, who lived
at the end of the 1500's. She helped the French King Henry give his support
to the Venetians in their war with the Turks. She also wrote poetry and was
a very inspiring person. Tourists ask to see her house and her dungeon cell
and the garden that is in the movie. Having rewatched the film today, it is
unclear where in Italy the film was shot, as it does not list the sites in
the credits. But it definitiely was shot in Italy and there are many Italian
actors, actresses, and technicians who are listed in the credits of the film.
I'm actually going to write the distributers for more info. It was frustrating
to go to Venice and not be able to trace some of ther steps. And my guide couldn't
understand my avid interest but noted that many many tourists ask about her.
She actually told me that the film was not released in Venice, and that she
had not been able to find a copy of it ever, to see what the tourists were
looking for. If there were a tour that really dealt with this I think there
would be many happier tourists. I would have been.
Regardless, you have such a huge list of films taking place in Italy; it would
be nice to see these two added.
We will definitely be going back. Thanks for all your help.
Sincerely,
Iris G.
Dear Jessica,
We had a fabulous time in Italy. Grand Hotel Villa Balbi was also very nice. When we were at the Grand Hotel Villa Balbi we ventured up to the Grand Hotel Dei Castelli for dinner. The view is gorgeous, and it has a quiet location, up and away from the bustle of the promenade. You might want to recommend it to your clients.
The Palace Hotel Varese was sort of a disaster. I had requested a hotel that was charming, but close to the airport. In the emails back and forth with In Italy, you all said that there was nothing really close to Malpensa, the closest cute hotel would be Palace Hotel Varese, so that's what I chose. That was a huge, very costly mistake. I guess I should have defined what I meant by "close". When we arrived in Milan, by train, from Sestri Levante, we went outside and got into a cab and said "Palace Hotel Varese". The cab driver was surprised (he didn't speak English), but in Italian explained that it was a minimum one hour cab ride from the train station in Milan to the hotel in Varese. As it turned out, it took over an hour, because the traffic was terrible. This cost us over a HUNDRED euros. Then, when we checked in, we asked the concierge how we could take a train to the airport, and he said we would have to go back into Milan!!! So we ended taking a cab to the airport, which cost another $65 Euros! Also, although the location was quiet, the room we had was only O.K, with a big noisy freestanding fan (there's no Air conditioning), and bedspreads with small holes in them.
I think it would have been much better for us to stay in Milan, and take the train from Milan to Malpensa.I have to believe that there are pretty places to stay in Milan, with much better transportation options. I was relieved at least that such a snafu happened at the end of the trip, because I would have been so worried about what was to come! Fortunately the first two hotels you recommended were very nice, and our reservations were handled flawlessly. We do hope to return to Italy next summer, hopefully earlier in the summer before it is so hot and crowded, and try to see Venice. I would welcome any Venice suggestions, and any suggestions you would have for a better Milan experience.
Thank very much.
Lucy F.
Dear In Italy,
The name of the hotel is the Grand Palace, but the locals call it the Palace, a situation which causes confusion for the prospective visitor. It was lovely, comfortable, and the personnel were friendly. The food was good, but not outstanding. One thing which I found to be quite unusual was that there were no tissues in the room or the bathroom. I told the person at the front desk that they need to add that to their usual room supplies and he told me that everybody told them that and the word had been sent up the line of management but no resulting change. Here is a hotel that provides a whirlpool tub, bath salts, a separate shower, a lovely marble bath, but no tissues!
We hired a car and driver to take us to Como and up the lakes to the ferry to Bellagio. It was a lovely day trip.
Richard
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