We stayed for several days at this lovely old hotel - but please note it was many years ago, only I could not enter a date before 2007. We have often wished to go back, but I've been unable to find out if the hotel is still open or not. This year we hope to travel to Lugano and will seek it out and report back.
The Hotel Alba is set in a lovely garden with a small open-air swimming pool in Paradiso, a few minutes from the lakeside and the Monte San Salvatore Funicular station. We had a very comfortable stay and were extremely well looked after at a most reasonable rate - a bargain for Lugano, in fact. We were a bit puzzled that the hotel had obviously been much grander at one time, and had been classified as 4 star, but we paid about a 2 star rate. There were a few long-term residents, a la Major and two sisters in Fawlty Towers, and it appeared that the lady owner was recently widowed perhaps, there was a charming gentleman butler/factotum/old family retainer? who seemed to do just about everything, from mowing the lawn to serving in the bar. If anyone has been to this hotel more recently I would love to hear about it.