We were lucky.....no weddings, great room, great food, great service. We stayed for a whole week and everything was perfect. Yes, it was a little pricey and had we been inundated with weddings that week I would have been very dissapointed but we weren't. I think you really need to "get" a place like this. We ate twice in the restaurant (you must have the seafood) and it thoroughly deserves the Michelin stars as the food was heavenly. The rest of the time was spent relaxing and just immersing ourselves in the wonders of Orta. San Guilio was just amazing! Neitzsche redefined time on this place....! We now know why. You can keep any other holiday destination as far as I'm concerned as this place is so romantic and unspolied it knocks spots off anything Spain or France can offer. We will definitely be coming back.....what's more you can ski in the winter!! Perfection!

Ok, the sun was shining, so it all looked nice. Bu even when it is raining this is a remarkable place. In here you will meet the exellence of Italy.
Strange building with an arabic flavour, huge rooms that make you feel you are living in another century and above all the magnificent restaurant with a Michelin star!.
If you go there with kids (maybe not the best idea), do not stay too long as they will miss a pool, etc. But for one night it is even magic for them.

The combination of the village on the lake, that is not as touristic as Lago Maggiore or the other big lakes, a boot tour and the hotel is a splendid way to spend a weekend. Can even be romantic.
From the many places we've been to in Italy this one turns out to be one of the best.

It might be hard to keep it this way when its reputation grows. So better to keep it a secret....

On arrival we were told that there was a maintenance problem with our room and would we accept an upgrade and move to our original room the next day. I said ok as I was sure all the rooms would be of a high quality, my only reservation was living out of a suitcase for two days. However when we did get our original room we realised we had not had an upgrade at all, just a different room with a four poster bed and a bigger bathroom. The original room had a balcony with a lake view and a jacuuzzi. How did we know it was the original room? Well, this is when it gets worse! The toilet flushing mechanism was in pieces and obviously not fixed and my wife had to go down three floors to use a toilet. We also were not impressed with the service at the hotel. On arrival having partially unpacked (we are moving rooms tomorrow), we went down to get a cup of tea. We sat out on the terrace to await the arrival of a waiter that never came and finally went to reception to see if we could place an order. We were told there would be some delay as the staff were having a meal! This level of service continued to breakfast in the morning where no one was on hand to greet and seat us and once again we had to search for a waiter to get us some coffee. The service in the restaurant was a totally different experience and we find it hard to equate the two in the same business. In summary we have been to better hotels and paid a lot less!

Villa Crespi is not your average Villa, or as they call it, Hotel Ristorante. It'll knock your socks off when you turn into the lovely grounds. You'll think you've entered some rich friends Italian Villa rather than a hotel. Trip Advisor shows it as a 3 star hotel but I think it rates higher than that. It's a member of the "Small Luxury Hotels of the World".

My wife and I stayed at Villa Crespi for 4 nights in May of 2005. The hotel is exqusite. It's an old villa that was renovated to make it a hotel. It's hard to say whether it's more a restaurant or hotel.

Getting there.
The Villa is a little over an hour's drive from Malpensa. It's not a difficult drive but I recommend you have your Italian maps and some euros, for tolls, before leaving the airport. Some car rental companies have SatNav available for their cars. That takes out the guesswork.

Check in and Room.
We were met at the front door by the Asst. Manager. A most helpful gentleman who's name I didn't write down. The Front desk staff is extremely helpful and seem to sincerely want to assist you in setteling in. Annisa is the young lady to help you there. Our room was ready and was unlike anyplace we've stayed. It was huge, a canopy bed, separate sitting area and separate bath. The room was a corner room so we had windows on two sides. It made for a very airy open feeling. The temperature was in the low 70's (20c) so it was very comfortable. The bath was a typical Italian bathroom. Single sink, commode, bidet and jacuzzi tub. The shower was one of the hand held type that made for a challenging shower. It seems all the hotels have the same selection of TV channels, CNN is available.

Breakfast and Dining.
The breadfast was excellent. We had eggs to order each day. The buffet was very adequate. Cereal, juces, crossants, cheeze, salami, everything but champagne, and if we'd asked, I'm sure it was available also.
Now the Dinner. Villa Crespi is outstanding. We ate dinner there one evening and the experience is not to be missed. They offer a "tasting" menu for around 60 euro and it's anything but tasting. The presentation, service and food is just uncomparable. Just fantastic, I believe they have one Michelin star, and they should. It was a most memorable evening. We ordered the accompaning wine menu and had different wine with each course. Molto bene. It was the best evening meal we had during our stay in Italy. DON"T miss dinner at Villa Crespi. The Mart're D (sp) speaks excellent english so everything is explained in fine fashion. The chef Antonio Cannavaciulol is a magician in the kitchen. (No, I can't pronounce it either.)

Hotel and Grounds
The hotel is surrounded by beautiful grounds. It's not on the lake itself but does have a beautiful view of the lake in the back of the hotel. There is a tent like structure behind the hotel where they have functions from time to time. The driving area is graveled and you can literally drive up to the front door of the hotel. Makes for easy loading and unloading. The Italian hotels are very popular venues for wedding receptions and business meetings. There was one of each during our stay. When we had our windows open we could hear the light jazz music from the wedding. We were never bothered by people or noise. Villa Crespi wants to make the place quiet and intimate and it is.

Internet
Bad news here. There is no internet availability at the Villa Crespi. There is an internet point available at their sister hotel the Hotel Approdo. It's about 3km away. The cost is 3.50 euro for 30 minutes. You can check email here but it would be very difficult to try and do any work. You can do some pre planning of the area by checking the orta.net website, good information there.

Summary.
Villa Crespi is an extraordinary property. Elegant, comfortable, eager staff, absolutely fabulous restaurant, not to be missed.