Le bucce di Gandria

I had the end room with the double bed (orange door). I loved the view, the old building, the off-season quiet, the food, the attention & responsiveness from the staff, the austere room, the picturesque village, the self-service breakfast, and many other things.

Some furnishings are a little makeshift, but fit the old building and they function. It took a while until the hot water would arrive at the tap. I would like to propose to the maintenance crew to grease every door handle, hinge and lock in the building, as well as unclog the shower drains more regularly. Because I was the only guest 3 out of 4 nights, I did not suffer from the poor noise protection.

We loved the little balcony overlooking the lake. The room was basic, certainly not luxurious, but absolutely fine for what we wanted and adequately comfortable. There was a shower and washbasin in the room, it was only the toilet that needed to be shared with other guests and that was not a problem as only one other family was staying there at the time. Breakfast was by way of bread, butter, jams and yogurts provided in a self-service kitchen, as well as coffee pods and teabags. Whilst the facilities in the bedroom area are more hostel like (which we were very happy with), the restaurant above is SUPERB. Initially we thought we wouldn't use it because it is expensive, but it was worth every centime for the fabulous and interesting five courses that are served, overlooking the lake. The owners are lovely, friendly and happy to help. The hotel/restaurant is easy to reach by bus from Lugano, the stop is right outside the entrance and the owners provide helpful instructions on how to find and identify the bus in Lugano. Once you step down from the hotel the steps and paths lead you straight into the village and on down to the lake.

A small grumble only. Switzerland can always be a little difficult when it comes to using powerpoints, some sockets are two pin round and take a standard adapter, others are hexagon shaped and often need two adapters - one to convert to round, then the standard adapater. All the sockets in the bedroom and corridor are hexagon shaped and most had been positioned facing downwards, meaning that the adaptors simply fell out with the weight. I ended up having to use the socket in the corridor where I could at least prop a book up against the adaptors to stop them falling out!

Amazing view - room with a terrace overlooking lake Lugano. Very good deal for staying in the most beautiful village of Switzerland! Thank you!

The room has a small balcony and the views to the lake and mountains are stupendous. There is a shared fridge with free milk and yoghurts and also a shared coffee machine with limited capsules. Filtered water can be refilled in the hotel's restaurant.

The room is very basic, if not spartan. The toilet is shared (there is only one toilet serving several rooms) and the shower of the single room is outside the room (double rooms apparently have their own showers). There was neither soap nor shampoo in the bathroom and the toilet. The village - Gandria - hasn't much to offer in terms of grocery shops and restaurants, so basically guests rely heavily on this hotel for food, drinks, etc. Problem is that on the day I arrived the restaurant was already fully booked for dinner (not necessarily by the guests of the hotel) and it was a problem to find another place for dinner (I ended up eating cookies). I think some tables should be reserved for the hotel's guests, but unfortunately this is not the case. This venue is primarily a restaurant, and it feels that it caters more for diners than for hotel guests. Go there only if you travel on a shoestring budget.