Stayed for a night. Upon check in, front desk clerk was rude and argumentative about reservation. I figured this was just an isolated issue with this one individual, and not a reflection of the entire staff.

The next day, the waitress tried to charge us $20 for breakfast for our toddler (breakfast was already included in the price of the room). Upon checkout I asked about the $20 charge for breakfast. Again, a new staff member at the reception desk was argumentative and rude. She kept talking over me and interrupting me when I tried to speak. I finally had to ask her to stop talking and listen to what I had to say. Eventually they removed the $20 charge, as we had the breakfast included in the initial room charge. I really don’t care about the extra $20. What bothered me was the way they tried to tack it on, and the lack of good customer service.

Sad part is, we were going to stay another night in the hotel. Based upon the poor service, we checked out and stayed at a nearby hotel. When I pay to stay somewhere, I expect good service. When they don’t deliver, I take my business to an establishment that will.

The hotel was clean and in good order. Room was nice. Views were great.

We enjoyed two nights here between Milan and St. Moritz for our first visit to Lake Como and were delighted with charming Varenna.

The Royal Victoria is perfectly situated with fabulous views, easy access to town and ferries, as well as for taking a dip in the lake.

We were picked up in an electric cart from the train station and got into room 114 early. The room is a little snug so you have squeeze between the bed and the desk, and we found the air conditioning to be quite loud. But the bed was pretty comfy and the shower had good pressure.

The terrace was lovely with sweeping views of the hotel's pool and patio area and the lake.

Breakfast was very nice, especially with the views!

On our second night, they had a wedding on the grounds, which was fun to watch...except the loud festivities continued into midnight. We were very disappointed as they had not informed us of this ahead of time, then they told us it would end at 10 (which was wrong), and their rooms are not sound-proof at all. (Yes, we have earplugs but that would have only helped a little.) So it was kind of miserable.

This marred an otherwise delightful stay for us, so just be aware!