Review: Sheraton Lake Como

Stayed here for two nights last year; caught it just before it moved up to Category 5, so it was a steal on points. I enjoyed this hotel and the pool, and I loved Lake Como. I guess our travel tastes are different, which is just fine!

I had a similar opinion. It was pretty nice, but didn't find it amazing. Maybe Clooney created too much hype?

Are you guys kidding? Italy is probably the nicest country in the world and lake Como is one of the nicest place ever.

Did you get breakfast for free in the restaurant as an SPG Platinum even though you had club lounge access? Or did you pay extra for breakfast in the restaurant?

@ YYZFlyer -- Yep, breakfast was free in lieu of the 500 Starpoints.

@ Joe -- No doubt it's a beautiful place. Maybe I should write a separate post with my experience. It may have been the time of year, and maybe I was doing it wrong, but I found so many areas to be packed to the brim with tourists to the point that it took away any charm.

Surprised to hear that you didn't like Lake Como!

I am absolutely in love with the Lake and the area surrounding it.
Understand that the Sheraton isn't the best hotel in the area, you should really check out some of the stunning vacation rentals in the area, for Euro 220 you could easily rent one of the more luxurious places!
Have you taken the drive over to Lugano, Switzerland before for example?
Great excursion for a day from Lake Como, only about a 45 minute drive away.

Also, for an aviation geek there is the "Aero Club Como".
www.aeroclubcomo.com

Since you are German speaking, check out below link . That's how I found out about the Como Flying Club, I enjoyed watching the show and the information it provided.

http://www.br.de/br-fernsehen/sendungen/freizeit/themen/wasserflugzeug-selber-fliegen-mit-dem-schmidt-max-am-comer-see-100.html

@Lucky. Believe your Lake Como experience might have been nicer if you had stayed up lake perhaps in the towns of Varenna or Bellagio. I never like the town of Como and have had many nice holidays in towns further north - normally in the spring or fall. Give the lake another try - I'm certain your experience will improve.

I don't know how you call yourself a points blog if you literally never use points for any hotels you stay in.

@ CalStanford -- I used points for the last hotel I reviewed. I spend 300+ nights per year in hotels, does it seem realistic to you to use points for all of those?

Lake Como IS kinda meh. Just check it off the list. Next!

@Wolfgang, Ticino /Tessin should be a separate trip. I preferred Lugano over the Lake Como area.

In terms of booking travel you have great powers. In being a traveler you come across as the most helpless person on earth

Totally agree with Donna. The town of Como is not Lake Como. It is just a town and you certainly wouldn't get a feel for the region by staying there. Varenna, Bellagio and a host of other towns further north may have provided you with a more authentic Lake Com experience. And nothing beats the the Italian-speaking Ticino area of Switzerland nearby. Lugano on Lake Lugano and Locarno on Lake Maggiore are well worth visiting.

Lake Como is a gorgeous place. You def. need to visit it again. My first stay there wasn't that spectacular either. We had bad weather and the hotel wasn't great either, but the next time we stayed at a gorgeous Airbnb, had a wonderful view of the lake and perfect weather. I instantly fell in love with the place and the small cities around it. Esp. during a hot summer, it's great to be able to jump into a decently cold lake and no salt water.

I stayed in a suite here and the hotel was wonderful. A little out of the way but for a Sheraton it was great.

I hate it when guests leave tongs on platters with the handles touching the food, defeats the purpose!

For 220 euros a night, this is rather pathetic. Especially given that the hotel isn't actually on the lake. I'm guessing, however, it can get away with the rates because it is a conference hotel. Still, the decor is pretty pathetic. That's why Sheraton is such a weak brand. Marriott really should unload it, along with its similarity outdated Marriott hotels, mostly in suburbs and corporate office parks.

"The elevators at this hotel are so terrible. None of the buttons work properly..."

Ha! Exact same issue at Sheraton Four Points Bolzano

@Lucky I wish you would be a less passive in pushing for service recovery when things don't turn out great. Of course things go wrong in travel, but when a major hotel chain doesn't send a pre-booked car, I think you should call them out on it. Then your readers can make a better judgement on the hotel/flight or whatever, when we see if the organisation does make an effort to do some service recovery or whether they just shrug and reveal contempt to their paying customers.
In a 2 star Ibis I wouldn't expect anything more than a 'sorry', but in the 4 and 5 stars hotels you stay at, mostly they can, and should do better.

Computers were down when arrived and staff were running around not really knowing what to do. No one was able to tell us what to do or take control, eventually we walked out and went and sat by the pool for an hour before going in to try check in once again.
At breakfast it took over 15minutes to get a basic omelette done and there were only 3 people in front of me. Asked staff for assistance on a few other things and was told yes only to be ignored whilst the staff walked away and didn’t assist at all.
Then in the afternoon whilst sat around the pool, every time I ordered a drink at the bar... there was magically about 3 other items that was on my order, luckily I was paying each round so it was very obvious when the bill came. The language is a minor barrier however it seems more previlent here than in other hotels/areas in Italy.
I seriously doubt I’ll be back at this hotel and would encourage others to shop around a little more

Just stayed here in July 2018. Lounge quality way less (amount and quality of food) than what is shown here. Service had lots to be desired. Traveling on budget so was needing to have decent lounge so could splurge a time or two out to eat. Luckily there was a grocery store close to hotel for snacks and such.

PROS: Beautiful property, pool and outdoor dining, hot water at pool showers, extremely rare in my experience for a hotel anywhere and even better I think it's solar driven. Good Service, excellent staff, prompt service, good location to lake and lake boat station. Excellent breakfast buffet. CONS: Gym is small & not well equipped, Club Lounge is old and small but excellent food and open all day. Older hotel, small rooms, no walk-in shower nor rain shower. Perhaps a good value for Como but very expensive in general in the summer. Under-staffed during busy check-in hours, phone to reception or Guest Services is sometimes not answered or has a busy signal. Outdoor dining at night has terrible mosquitos. Elevators are VERY old and doors abrupt and dangerous, injuring my shoulder while trying to enter one day. Created a huge debaclewith a lost package, ask me for all kinds of documentation, said they were going to reimburse me, confirm that three times in an e-mail only too break their commitment the following day after had sent in writing three times that a check was on its way.