Hotel Royal

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We have just returned from another very enjoyable stay at the Royal Hotel Stresa. From the moment we arrived until the time we left, we felt completely relaxed. Nothing was any trouble to any member of the staff. They made us feel welcome. Even when it turned slightly cooler our chambermaid put an … more

We have just returned from another very enjoyable stay at the Royal Hotel Stresa. From the moment we arrived until the time we left, we felt completely relaxed. Nothing was any trouble to any member of the staff. They made us feel welcome. Even when it turned slightly cooler our chambermaid put an extra blanket on the bed. More so for the second week when we had tremendous thunder and lightning storms with very heavy rain. Our room was kept spotless by the chambermaid on level 3. The breakfasts as usual were self service with ample choice, something to suit everyone. The dinner menus were varied and sometimes it was difficult to make a choice from the selection available. The spacing of the tables and chairs in the dining room was excellent with room to move in between. After dinner there is a large lounge area where you can relax and enjoy a coffee or something a bit stronger. There is free Wi-Fi in the hall and in the rooms. There is a pool area with loungers, tables and umbrellas. Towels are available at reception. There is also ample free car parking around the hotel. All in all another successful holiday at the Royal. Looking forward to 2026 when we will be back and meet up with all management and staff again. Thank you all for a wonderful holiday.

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“Good hotel but (mostly minor) problems soon accumulated”

Good memories were certainly made here on this, my first, visit to the Italian Lakes. There were however some, mostly minor, issues that need attention if this hotel is to compete favourably with the other nearby hotels; on anything other than the price. This ‘budget hotel’ has some facilities no… more

Good memories were certainly made here on this, my first, visit to the Italian Lakes. There were however some, mostly minor, issues that need attention if this hotel is to compete favourably with the other nearby hotels; on anything other than the price. This ‘budget hotel’ has some facilities not usually found in a 3-star hotel. The location of the hotel was good for us, being just beyond the northwestern end of the town. It’s location provides a pleasant 25-30 minute stroll to the commercial centre of the town. Most of the town’s commercial centre; being bars, cafés, restaurants and shops, are located in the south-eastern end of the town. The road, ‘Viala Lido’, to the side of the hotel descends northwards to the Carciano ferry terminal with a pleasant café/restaurant/bar. That led onto a path through the coastal public park heading eastwards towards the town centre. A pleasant few minutes walk though the park, with some really great views of Isola Bella was a regular treat for us. There did seem to be a permanent mist and, being Autumn, some low cloud obscuring more distant views north-eastwards across the lake to the area around Verbania. The ‘G-maps’ show that the coastal path continues eastwards further along this section of coast. We, however, couldn’t find our way through/around some private grounds belonging to some very fine properties on the lake shore. So, a gentle climb up the ‘Via Gillberto Borromeo’ had to be made to get to the ‘SS33 del Sampione’ (the main coastal road through Stresa). From here we were able to return to the coastal path all the way to the south-eastern end of the town. This was a round-trip walk we did at least twice a day; thus we were clocking up an average of 15,000 steps (7.5 miles) every day. As I said the hotel was ‘good for us’. The hotel’s public areas, were furnished with old-style quality sofas and chairs, all being comfortable, very clean, and bordering on ‘posh’. Staff we encountered were most pleasant and very helpful, and spoke English very well. ‘Buonasera’ and ‘Buongiorno’ were words we soon became acquainted with; ‘Ciao’ was not used (obviously too casual). The room (#235) was adequate, but I didn’t like the look of the electrics: especially in the bedroom around the TV which deployed a multiple stacked adapter array feeding the TV, fridge and the network/Wi-Fi switch for the internet. As we were not going to use the television I unplugged it (and felt safer). The room had air-conditioning, but it wasn’t very efficient, thankfully the night-time temperatures were comfortable and we didn’t spend much time in the room during the day. My bedside lamp didn’t work at all. There were no drawers in the beside table for storing items like meds, glasses, watch etc.; all the sort of items you don’t want on the table when placing your half full glass of water down in the dark. The Wi-Fi was good and relatively easy to log into, speed was 26mbps down. The bed was really comfortable and sleep quality was mostly good, but there was a lot of early morning noise from refuse/recycling collections. The room was cleaned daily to a very reasonable standard. The bed was very comfortable to sleep in. On the first morning we were rudely awakened by the occupant(s) in the room next to ours, who turned on their TV at 05:15, to listen you what I suspect was the morning news. We banged on the wall and it was promptly switched off. Our room had a pleasant private balcony with something of a view. The balcony wasn’t very private; as balconies to the left and right were only a few feet away. We are non-smokers and were bothered by drift smoke from other guests habitual inclinations. The doors to the balconies all had an electrically activated security roller shutter blinds that blotted out all sunlight. This was useful during the lightning storms that occurred on three nights of our seven night stay. The bathroom has a very funky shower: a waterfall shower plus a hand held shower, the former was a bit like water from an overflowing gutter. Showers were hot and refreshing, but I wasn’t sure that the optional coloured LED lights added anything to my showering experiences. The doors to the shower would not shut properly and left a gap all the way down, preventing a watertight seal. The bathroom floor became very wet and we had to ask for extra towels, which were provided. I looked at the problem and discovered that the quarter quadrant shaped bottom rail was worn and the leading runner on one of the two sliding doors moved off the rail. A slight press with my foot (when the door was in position to shut) and the runner just popped back onto the rail. Seal made, job done, and no more water leaks! My only other comment about the bathroom is that my aerosol of Lynx deodorant mysteriously disappeared; one morning it was there, but by the afternoon it had gone! Weird or what? We did take a visit up to the roof-top terrace and the views from there of the lake were outstanding. There was a lift to this area; however there was no bar, or from what we could see any kind of waiting service. The ground floor had a bar just off the seating area. The bar had a small balcony that was crammed with tables and chairs that would seat 15-20 people if they were reasonably disposed to each other. The bar served ‘Regional wines and Italian classics’. Sadly there was only one white and one rosé wine served by-the-glass on offer (we only drink white or rosé wine) and neither was at all to our liking; it was very (i.e. too) ‘vino ordinario’. The pleasant bar manager invited us (and I expect several others) to join him for free nibbles at 19:00 on any evening to accompany wine that we might like to purchase to drink. We did say we would attend, but we didn’t; because this was the time that we took ourselves off to dinner reservations in the town (besides the hotel bar white wine by-the-glass was decidedly unpalatable). Having not taken part in the bar nibbling, it was a bit embarrassing when passing the bar with it being very close to the stairs and lift. We did discover however that the lift could be taken all the way down to the garage which was adjacent to the ‘Viala Lido’ road that took us into town. This shortcut also saved a walk via the front of the hotel and down the side to the exit onto the road: result!! Breakfasts were good; buffet style with all you care to eat. This included the Italian version of bacon, which was very thin, substantially fatty and mostly soaked in fat/oil. This was called ‘Pancetta’ (cured pork belly) but in a toasted bread sandwich it was very tasty. It felt like you were eating pure cholesterol; because you were … and also the saturated fat! Still I walked-off the worst of that! The tea was ‘Tea Jim’ as we put it (an adulteration of a Star Trekkin’ song lyric ‘It’s life Jim, but not as we know it’). For us the only tea worth drinking is very strong Indian black tea, and nothing else works for us. We had foreseen this issue and took our own tea-bags. The coffee was good if you waited to use the espresso machine and then managed to secure some hot milk. Breakfasts were the only food we took at the hotel, with so many great restaurants in the town, we just felt we would be better-off choosing from the much wider range of cuisines. I did appreciate the head waiter, a senior gentleman, spoke very good English. He (quite rightly) was not afraid to instantly and publicly admonish a young ‘Cameriere apprendista’ when he failed to preform to the expected high standards in his appearance and actions. The senior waiter was on duty at 06:00, I know this because I saw him at that time, as we were waiting for our taxi driver prior to our departure to the airport. Yes we would stay here again but would encourage ‘the powers that be’ to stock some drier and fruitier wine for by-the-glass purchase.

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“Having read previous reviews this was a disappointing experience.”

The hotel is very traditional (old fashioned) but in a good location. Access to the boats that take you across to the Borromean Islands is literally a 5min walk from the hotel. Unfortunately, the staff and service we received wasn’t so great. The hotel breakfast is terrible, the selection is poor a… more

The hotel is very traditional (old fashioned) but in a good location. Access to the boats that take you across to the Borromean Islands is literally a 5min walk from the hotel. Unfortunately, the staff and service we received wasn’t so great. The hotel breakfast is terrible, the selection is poor and there is little hot food. My partner had some dry scrambled eggs and was told there was no bacon and to have cold ham instead! We’re in Italy yet we couldn’t get a decent cup of coffee in the morning. The coffee was weak and tasteless and when I ask for decaf the waiter seemed very irritated. In the evening there’s a small bar for a limited selection of drinks. Again the staff were unprofessional, often kept you waiting even though the bar was quiet and the selection of drinks were very limited. Overall a disappointing experience and we won’t be returning.

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“Comfortable hotel with lovely view”

First impression entering the lobby was a smell of mold, decor was mid seventies but fine. The dining room where breakfast was served was a good size . Standard breakfast with eggs, bacon etc which set you up for the day. Staff attentive. Option to sit outside, weather permitting. Stayed 4 night… more

First impression entering the lobby was a smell of mold, decor was mid seventies but fine. The dining room where breakfast was served was a good size . Standard breakfast with eggs, bacon etc which set you up for the day. Staff attentive. Option to sit outside, weather permitting. Stayed 4 nights in a double room. The room seemed to be recently refurnished located to the side facing the lake and islands. Lovely. The balcony was a good size, the only downfall was you had no privacy as there was only a small division between each one, about a meter high, so you felt as though you were sitting with your neighbours. Room and bathroom of a decent size, the bathroom had a large shower and was modern and recenty retiled. No complimentary tea or coffee in the room but we were given a kettle to boil water upon request. The bar promotes complimentary snacks with your appertivo, something I found strange as normally these are included anyway. Didn't use the bar. The pool, although nice was small and shallow, so not really for swimming but to cool down on hot days. Surrounded by grass and on a slope so only a few sunbeds could lay flat. Sun didn't hit the pool until afternoon so a lot of shade apart from two sunbeds in a far corner. Rooftop terrace which has lovely views but no service so a little bit disconnected, although it looked as though they were setting up some kind of bar area, maybe next season. Easy access for boats to the Islands and 15 minute walk in to town. Overall we had an enjoyable stay in Stresa but found the the town quite charmless and a bit of a tourist trap so would not go back. Seemed to be popular for Brits as wedding location. Lake Maggiorre in general was a slight dissappointment for us and would not recomend, lots of buildings seemed to be neglected and closed. Took a day trip to Cannobio, which was lovely so regret not staying there. Intra was lovely too. Overall a decent hotel for a weekend if attending a wedding or to visit the islands.

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