Pros:
The room had a balcony from which you could view the surrounding mountains – but certainly not view the lake, as the photo on the booking site eluded to. While there was no elevator, we had only one short flight of stairs to our room. The hotel is located in a nice residential area. Free parking was available and free wi-fi (had to notify the reception area to turn it on).
Cons:
The room was clean, albeit furnished in rather old and worn items. The bed, however, was very comfortable. The room was rather small, but did have a small balcony with two chairs. The bathroom was most unusual. On one side of the tiny (3’x5’ max) room was a toilet (if you sat normally on it, your knees hit the wall, but sitting sideways was OK!) and sink, and then across from the toilet and sink room , a shower stall – off the main room. There were no outlets anywhere by a mirror (bathroom or elsewhere) and no wired in hairdryer, etc. There is no convenience store or other grocery store within walking distance. The optional breakfast (cereal and breads from my observation) was 8.50 CHF. We had a car and drove to the CO-OP (about 5 min drive ) to get juice and rolls for breakfast. We had one dinner there – OK foodwise (we had one serving of lasagna and one salad , which we split, but it was still around $40 USD)! The service was very poor ( the place was not crowded). Directions to the hotel were absolutely the worst – we wasted 2 hours trying to find the place – few roads are marked with street names and the directions themselves did not even make sense (ie: go right at the next light and then right again at the next light – there was never a “next” light – this was only one example of the poor directions). We finally found an English speaking businessman who took us to his nearby factory and printed off a map – which helped somewhat. Again, without street names, a map is rather useless. Without a car, I’m not sure how you would get to downtown Lugano (the lake, funicular, etc), but buses are probably available. Our cost for 2 nights was 225 CHF (at the time the exchange rate was very low: 1 CHF equaled 0.87 – 0.88 USD)
Recommendation:
I would not recommend this hotel – too many “cons”.

Stayed at Villa Marita for two nights recently. The hotel is difficult to find as I found two signs pointing in opposite directions which confused matters somewhat. On arrival I found it difficult to find the "reception" which turned out to be a room downstairs. The rooms can only be described as adequate and they have not been decorated for quite some time. We had a shower and wash basin but no toilet. Toilet facilities had to be shared with the other guests and with the hotel full it was none too pleasant. There was a second toilet downstairs beside the dining room which had no lock on the door !!!! The breakfast consisted cereals, bread, tea and coffee and not much more. There was no bar but drinks were available at premium prices which the standard of the hotel did not justify. I found the owner ok to deal with but the night porter whose name I didnt get was a bit creepy. I was glad to only be staying two nights.

My family stayed in this hotel for a week, and the lobby is ok, but the rooms are dirty and the showers have mildew in them. After asking for the shower to be cleaned, it was still dirty. I payed way too much for this hotel per night, for the quality of room I had. The internet access is limited although it is advertised that it is available, no laundry service as advertised. All around bad experience, and would not recommend to anyone. The only reason I didnt leave is all other hotels around Lugano were booked.

The Villa Martia is a discount hotel on a hillside above Lugono, Switzerland: it is in a residential area in walking distance of the city, although the hillside is very steep. Be sure to have a good map to find it: signage is minimal; there is limited parking available adjacent to the hotel. The hotel itself is dark with a pervasive smell of cats, the staff speaks little English, and it was difficult to find someone to check-in (it turned out to be downstairs behind the dining room). There are no elevators in the building, so be prepared for many stairways dividing the split-level architecture.

The room was adequate: a small balcony, twin beds, a small TV with local channels. The bathroom has a shower, no tub, with adequate hot water and pressure. While the area is generally quiet, the group in adjacent rooms sat talking on the balcony late into the night; the hotel staff was unable to do much about it. There is no internet beyond borrowing the computer in the hotel office.

The hotel restaurant serves a single-choice meal that varies each evening; breakfast is a small buffet of breads and cereals. The cook will prepare an egg ad there is fresh coffee. This is an adequate budget hotel for the area, but a better suggestion would be to take a holiday apartment available from the VVV website: it’s roughly the same price but gives a much better experience.