Hotel Villa Principe Leopoldo & Spa

Waking up to the glorious shimmering lake and dramatic mountains , made it hard to leave. Restaurants were professional and food was delicious and decadent.

Excellent hotel and experience! Lovely people and wonderful service, beautiful views and beautiful property. Concierge service is super helpful and knowledgeable

The café experience: We went there a few times and the service was okay; nothing special. However, the last three visits were horrible. The servers didn’t come to our table for at least 10 minutes after we were seated, and they took a long time to bring our soft drinks. We had to ask multiple times for water for our dog before we finally received it. The servers seemed not only rushed but also quite rude at times. Overall, horrible. We’ll sadly probably never go back.

It's difficult to write this review because we expected so much more. We congratulate the new GM, Matteo, for his commitment to improvement. The hotel is in a wonderful position with a spectacular view of Lugano and beautiful gardens. and there are some lovely staff. The pool onsite is small so we went to the lovely larger pool and gym at the hotel next door to swim laps. The main fine dining restaurant is very good (though expensive) and I’ve completed a separate review on it. The things which need improvement include: 1. The AC which never went down below about 21 degrees which is too warm for good quality sleep. 2. Charges. You need to be very careful you are not charged for things which you have not requested eg. We were charged 45 Swiss francs for a taxi into Lugano which turned out to be a limousine which we did not request. Normal cost to go into Lugano is 15-20. It’s better taking Ubers than taxis as way cheaper 3. At the second outdoor restaurant/bar we were charged 15 fra for a pot of hot water with lemon in it! We got this removed from the bill. 4. Furthermore, the cost of the food in the second restaurant/bar is too high and should ideally differ in style and offering to the Main restaurant. 6. Breakfast is not at the quality of the hotel. The offering needs to include many more healthy and gluten-free options, organic eggs and fruits (where possible), more cooked dish options like healing porridges, some kind of soup or bone broth, more egg options with interesting sides, crepes/pancakes etc. 7. Pillows were either too soft or too hard. 8. The Spa Suite with steam room and sauna etc should be complimentary for any guests staying in house because these sorts of facilities are generally a normal inclusion in these sorts of hotels. We trust the hotel will make the necessary improvements to services and offerings to offer true value.

This restaurant is a straight 10 with food and views that can only be described as magical. Something you’ll never forget! And, of course the sommelier and wait staff was excellent.