This is an unpretentious, family run hotel, used by many local people when in town or when relatives are over. Very friendly and helpful desk staff, and friendly cleaning staff as well. One of the best aspects is its location: literally a 2 minute walk from the main railway station that serves Milano, Zurich, Basel and Lucerne, and also very close to the Giosy bus service stop at the station. (Giosy serves Malpensa airport in Milan) If you are looking to visit the Hermann Hesse Museum in Montagnola, you only need to cross the street and wait at the PTT bus stop by the small fountain. The Lugano center and shopping district is either a pleasant 5 minute walk downhill from the station, or a 2 minute ride on a cable car.
For convenience, neighborhood friendliness and location, the Hotel Besso is an excellent choice. Many good restaurants in town, and one not far from the hotel on a side street. Good value for price, with breakfast included and a computer terminal guests can use.

Situated near the main rail station this hotel was on a busy road and so could be noisy at times. Our rooms were very clean although somewhat lacking in sockets and information. The breakfast was brought to your table and suggested the hotel were trying to limit waste. There are some decent places to eat nearby but, word of warning, do not go to the restaurant recommended by the hotel unless you want to pay an extraordinary amount of money for very average food. Are the hotel on to a back-hander? Lugano is an extremely expensive place and very beautiful but our wallets were releaved to leave the place!

Medium quality rooms. Cleanliness OK. Relatively poor selection of food at breakfast. Not a great location, but not far from railway station.

Attending an international meeting at Lugano's Palazzo conference center that consumed all local and nearby hotels, Hotel Besso was one of 2 remaining options that were within walking distance of the meeting (i.e. actually in Lugano). Perhaps the biggest pluses are it's convenient location just next to the train station and free WiFi. (To get to the town, just cross the street and take the pedestrian underpass to either cross under the train tracks and follow the hill down into the shopping area, or pop up into the train station where you can catch the funicular down to the village (save 5 min walking, best for the uphill trip.) Otherwise, nothing fancy. Room was roomy with old European charm, small patio area overlooking the street, tiny TV. Hand shower was mounted to the long wall of the shower/tub, so you could almost use it as a regular shower. As mentioned, the biggest minus is the noise. It is right next to a rather busy street with an incline, so cars and motorbikes tend to be particularly noisy going by through the night. Eventually I found that if you left the fan on overnight, it did help block out the frequent noise. Dropped by the included breakfast once, just the usual museli, yogurt, fruit, toast, cold meat, and juice/tea/coffee. One note, leave your "Do Not Disturb" sign when you're in your room. One morning when I stayed a bit later in the room, housekeeping just barged in without knocking and went directly to enter the bathroom with me in it before I shouted and scared them off.