Insiders Travel Experiences

Excellent hotel, plush and beautiful. Great staff and food quality and choices. By far the most amazing brunch I’ve seen with fresh juicing station and fresh omelettes. Spa and gym lounge ones clean and equipped enough. It’s not downtown in the lake como village but walkable to the next town Cernobbio. Easy water shuttle service around the lake. Nighttime travel may be challenging without a car but plenty of walkable restaurants. Nice pool and outdoor seating options and outdoor restaurants as well on site.

Nice location, close to walking to downtown shopping and restaurants. Wonderful front desk staff Glulia and Gaia. Some knowledge about local restaurants. Rooms were clean but dated, in need of new paint with unfinished wood floors and deep gouges. End rooms were very spacious.

Fantastic hotel and location. Walkable to all sites and good choice of walkable restaurants. Very close to the Duomo cathedral and Gucci/LV flagship stores! Only stayed one night but very peaceful and plush rooms with spa like bathrooms, marble walled, slippers and bathrobes too. Went to be rooftop bar but was very pricey for a drink so just enjoyed the views which are great. Good breakfast buffet but no omelette station.

Nice walk of the town and some boating on the ferry. I hadn’t realized the huge size of the lake and expected more lake time so I rented a boat the next day! Went through some churches, shopping and limited wine tasting. Lunch selection was great. Had a nice walk through Torno, with narrow streets and small coffee shop for a rest. Renzo was great but I wish he was louder!

Be aware that this is a cruise ship tour. We had some delays in the morning as a result. However Lisa the guide was fantastic. You get to see many sites in a short time. The best part was after the last stop and the cruise ship passengers had to depart, you can keep the train tickets and ride from site to site all night if you like. However the crowds did get worse during the day. Luck selections and souvenir shops are plentiful

It was a very clean hotel and the staff was nice. The breakfast room is the highlight of this hotel. Our girls loved that they felt like princesses!

The staff were vey nice. The hotel was clean and in a perfect location.

It was the best hotel we have ever been to. If you want to have the best view, the kindest hotel staff and be in the the middle of Santorini, this is the hotel for you!

The staff was kind and having the beach right across the street was amazing.

It was right downtown and next to everything! I would recommend it to anyone. It was the perfect location for us as we only had one day in Athens and from this hotel you can walk to everything.

We loved our guide, she was amazing and we had the absolute best day!

Hands down the best experience we have ever had. It was a once in a lifetime experience that I would do again. It is a must do for anyone traveling to Santorini!

Our guide was very knowledgeable. We only had 1 day in Athens and .he did an awesome job at making sure we got in everything we needed to know

We had the best experience at Anna Maria's Cooking Class. My husband and our 3 daughters had so much fun. They really amerce you into the experience. It is a must do if you are in Sorrento. You will not forget it!

The Charme Spagna Boutique Hotel in Rome was a little gem! The room was comfortable and quiet, breakfast was excellent, and the staff were so kind and accommodating. My family arrived very early in the morning in Rome. Although our room wasn't ready, the staff kept our luggage while we explored. They were able to open the room to us earlier than expected, which was nice since we were jetlagged. Of all the hotels we stayed in, my children enjoyed the breakfast and snacks here the most. Our room even opened to a lovely patio, where we enjoyed our meal. The hotel is also in convenient walking distance to Trevi Fountain and the Spanish Steps.

We enjoyed Hotel Leone with its lovely pool and patio, delicious breakfast, quiet but convenient location, and friendly staff. Our family of five had two rooms, which were conveniently assigned next to each other. Because it was so hot when we visited in July, we were glad to have the pool. We only wish it had stayed open past 7 PM.

We found the accommodations at The Republic to be outstanding. We were graciously welcomed at the front desk. Our family of five was assigned two spacious and comfortable rooms. We were even treated to a surprise bottle of Chianti when we arrived. Because it was so hot when we were visiting in July, we were happy to have a nice, luxurious shower in the room. Our family also enjoyed the breakfast with its variety of hot and cold foods, fruits, and beverages.

Great location. Very nice rooms. Be sure to enjoy the rooftop bar and restaurant with views of Mt. Etna

Stunning views, Very clean and modern rooms. Beautiful pool. One of the best meals we had in Sicily.

This is probably top-10 in hotels we have stayed in. The views of the temples are incredible. Be sure to plan to enjoy a meal in the outdoor dining area.

We asked for a hotel near the PMO airport because we had a 0550 Flight in the morning. The hotel is a very large convention hotel. The room was clean but smelled strongly of mold and vinegar. The concrete was spalling on the wall. The worst problem was the *very* loud birthday party with DJ in the courtyard until 11 PM our first night. The desk staff promised there would be no party on our second night before our flight. They lied. There was a very loud DJ in the courtyard facing our room and the other courtyard had a party with loud music. At 10PM we insisted on a new room. The Staff accommodated us by moving us to a recently built villa but that required us packing and moving to a new building outside the hotel campus. … Less than 3 hours of sleep before a very long trip home. … FYI the beach was filled with garbage, very unappealing but not under the control of the hotel.

The cooking class with Luca was a highlight of the entire trip. Half the group was gluten free. Luca had a separate gluten-free station set up for the pasta making portion of the class. Luca was fun and engaging and even experienced cooks learned a lot about Sicilian specialties. The class was super fun and the food was delicious and abundant. … Our guide for the Taormina was a solid “B” grade and was the weakest link of the trip. She was grumpy that our lunch ran late and started the tour with “I have a doctor’s appointment so it is OK if you want to have time to walk around.” She was technically ok but seemed rushed and distracted.

Our guide Dario is a serious mountaineer. He was very fun, entertaining and informative. He is also a member of the Italian Search and Rescue team so we knew we were in good hands. We had a fantastic view of the Vale de Bove, a UNESCO heritage site. I have done lots of backpacking and climbed many mountains, but this was one of the most stunning sites I have seen.

Lorenzo was literally one of the best tour guides we have ever had. His deep knowledge of history gave context to the site. His style is extremely entertaining and he made the whole tour super fun. He talked for 2 hours and the tour went by in a flash. Lorenzo is one of the few people I would specifically seek out if I were to visit Sicily again. I wish I could give 6 stars

Ragusa is worth a quick visit. Our driver was amazing. He took us to a great spot on the superior village to get a view and then took us to the lower village. He dropped us in the Piazza, pointed out a great gelato shop and told us he would meet us by the garden. This gave us the perfect opportunity to stroll through the Main Street in an unhurried manner. Occhipinti gave an excellent tour and the wines were quite good. (We ordered a couple of cases to ship home). However, the vineyard is a bit out of the way and probably not worth a special trip unless you are in the area.