An elegant and old-fashioned (in the nicest sense of the description) ‘wedding cake’ of a hotel. We had a very comfortable suite with a balcony and great views over the lake to the mountains and the fountain rising from the lake (those of a certain age will remember Alexandra Bastedo standing in front of it at the beginning of ‘The Champions’!). Our suite was just over 500 euros – which is not cheap of course – but it was huge, with two bathrooms, two showers, a wonderful bed, masses of hanging space, mini bar, great toiletries, lots of towels, large bowl of complimentary fruit and delicious free box of chocolates. The hotel was very quiet so it was quite lonely in the bar and restaurant. The barman was charming and the waiting staff in the restaurant are quite formal, again in the nicest sense and we rather enjoy that (though I suspect some people might describe it as ‘stuffy’). The food was pretty good but quite old-style and substantial! There is garage parking if you are driving and it’s extremely pleasant to walk alongside the lake, even in November. The pretty pastels of the old buildings cast a delightful shadow on the lake. The town is filled with high end luxury shops but there is a fair amount of construction going on a little way down from the hotel. However they are doing this in the most amazingly efficient way (e.g. the lorries have to be washed before they leave the building site and join the public road).

Don't let the photos deceive you!! Not luxury as it appears online, an old, worn out hotel in bad need of renovation. Stained carpet, upholstery, wall paper and drapes. We discovered bits of brownish spots (resembled blood) in various areas of the room during our stay. Did not truly discover the stains until late into the second night otherwise we would have asked for a different room. We jokingly now refer to it as the “blood hotel!” View from our room of the concrete parking area. Only good thing was the breakfast downstairs. But don’t be fooled if you order the included breakfast to your room, we were charged $10 per glass of “fresh squeezed OJ” they said the “fresh squeezed” was NOT a part of the free breakfast upon checkout however failed to mention this when we ordered. Manager was rude once we brought up our complaints. We did receive a small discount but the manager was not pleasant about it. Booked on Travelocity and staff made me feel like I have already received a very discounted rate. So, should I expect a dirty room? Many other places to discover in Lugano, this is not one of them!

Having found our original hotel to be of a very poor standard indeed we drove around Lugano to find somewhere better and decided to just blow the price and stay somewhere luxurious! As the Splendide is in the Leading Hotels of the World we thought it a safe bet and once we had a brief look inside we decided to take the price (£280 b+b) on the chin in the category marked "We only go on holiday once a year!". Well I have to say our little treat was worth every penny as we were allocated a spacious, modern and well equipped room with a view over Lake Lugano which is quite simply breathtaking! The food was great, the staff lovely and the standards of a class you'd hope for at the price. If you are feeling lavish then spoil yourself on this magnificent hotel. My six year old also had plenty of fun in the pool, which although indoors was open at the front to give an outdoor feel on a hot Swiss day!