We stayed for 3 nights and I had no particular expectations of this hotel being anything more than a convenient place to stay. As it turned out, the experience was very good. Rooms were furnished in a charmingly retro way (although our double bed was pretty saggy in the middle, and the head end was significantly lower than the foot end). Staff were all very friendly and multilingual. We were travelling with a young baby, and she was accommodated very well (we had a travel cot in our room). No problems with noise or cleanliness. Breakfast was much better than I anticipated (a range of breads, jams, fruit, drinks).

Room was very clean, recently renovated, modern, although small. Location is terrific - just a block from the lake, walking distance to everything in town and Via Nassa was gorgeous.

The breakfast was wonderful - staff were terrific, especially with our small children. Staff at the front desk were very helpful and spoke several languages. My only criticism is their dinner recommendation of the Spaghetti Store, which was truly horrible. Besides that, we would certainly stay at the San Carlo when we return to Lugano.

The hotel is located at the main shopping street in the center of Lugano. It's also close to the lake. The prices are ok but the rooms are rather small and not that nice.

Small place, right in the centre of Lugano with friendly staff. Finding the place is a little hard as it is in a pedestrianised shopping area in the centre of town and you cannot get a taxi directly. It is very close to a little courtyard where a free outdoor classical music concert was being played when we arrived - this was lovely. Opposite is an ice cream shop, and you go through an alleyway and you are directly on the lake front - so it is a nice location. However, the rooms are hot and if you leave the windows open - to keep cool - it is also noisy.
However we booked at the last minute and they had rooms which were not shockingly expensive for Lugano - so I guess we got what we paid for.
If I were to return to Lugano I would look for other places to stay - but if I couldn;t find anywhere else I wouldn;t be too disappointed if I ended up there again.