My wife and I are frequent travelers to CH, and have stayed at many 5* hotels around the world.
Our last stay in CH was five nights at the Splendide Royale in Lugano, summer 2019, after a trip through the vineyards of N. IT. Then COVID was declared a pandemic, and tourism stopped.
For the spring of 2020, then 2021 and finally 2022, I made reservations for travel to CH, till all was clear and we could vacation again in May 2022.
Due to fear of COVID, I had searched for 5* hotels with sunny, south-facing suites.
Villa Orselina seemed like a great place : up on a hill in Locarno, with wide, sunny, south-facing balconies and views. The Lifestyle suite seemed like a great choice. On top of that, the hotel offered a 5-for-4 deal. Everything looked great. On paper.
So I booked a five-night stay, from 13 to 18 of May, 2022.
Checking in at Villa Orselina, we waited for about an hour for a 'welcome drink', that never came, and for bell-staff to take our luggage to our suite.
Finally, we were led to our Lifestyle Suite : through the bar, past two small toilets, up a small, dingy elevator, to our "suite". We got the feeling that we were being taken into the servant quarters.
Instead of a grand, sunny, panoramic vista over the lake advertised by Villa Orselina, especially for its Lifestyle Suites, our suite had a shady, partial-lake, partial-apartment-building view, overlooking a rain-drain / stairs that no one uses.
Not even remotely what we expected.
A waiter at the restaurant told us there were 14 Lifestyle suites, and he pointed to the suites on the top floor, with grand, sunny views over the lake. That is what we expected to get, but that was very different from what we got. I consider that to be dishonest marketing.
When we asked the front desk about our suite, we were told by one person that the only thing available was the suite given to us, then told by a more senior person that all Lifestyle suites were in that small area.
Clearly a lie. Fourteen Lifestyle suites cannot fit in a space for one, even if on four floors.
And 'Lifestyle Suites' would not be in what appeared to be servant quarters.
It seems we were baited by a 5-for-4 deal, then given a 'suite' that very few people would want.
On top of that, we felt unwelcome in the restaurant that evening, and were served a half-burnt, half-raw entree. Decided to not have dinners at the restaurant.
The experience at Villa Orselina completely spoiled our mood, and put us at perceived risk of COVID.
It also wasted five precious days of our 17-night vacation, that we had waited for three years of the pandemic, and wasted five days of precious time off from work.
Instead of a joyous vacation, we were given a sour experience.
Villa Orselina is, in our experience, not consistent with Brand SLH and Brand CH.
I wrote to their Director.
Got a response that was consistent with my disappointing experience at Villa Orselina.
Will not visit again.
CH
US