Hotels in Italy's Lake District, Venice, and Cinque Terre

We spent three weeks in northern ITALY, including the Lake District, Venice and the Cinque Terre, Oct. 3-24, ’03, and would like to recommend two hotels and two restaurants that we think are worth mentioning.

• Albergo Centrale (Via Regina, 39 - 22012 Cernobbio, Como, Italy; phone 011 39 031/511411, fax 011 39 031/341900, e-mail info@albergo-centrale.com), located 50 meters from the lake.

This is a small, quiet hotel with only 20 rooms and an affable staff. We had a neat, clean and small but comfortable room with satellite TV, phone, mini-bar and a good-sized bathroom with shower and hair dryer. The cost of a double room, including a very adequate breakfast, was €90 ($113).

This hotel also has a wonderful cellar restaurant, built completely of stone, which resembles a grotto. We were offered a great selection of dishes and wine from the menu. The total cost for dinner for four with wine and dessert was €110 ($139).

• For those going to Venice who do not want to lodge there, there is an alternative to the industrial city of Mestre. We found a delightful area called the Brenta Riviera, located along the Brenta River and its canals. Here, just 20 minutes from Venice, is Hotel Il Burchiello (Via Venezia 19, Oriago di Mira, Italy; phone 011 39 041/429555, fax 011 39 041/429728, e-mail hotel@burchiello.it).

The bus for Venice stopped right outside the hotel and ran every half hour. The last one left Venice around midnight and would drop us off in front of the hotel — very convenient!

We had a quiet room at the rear of the hotel on the ground floor. For a double with breakfast, the cost was €95 ($119).

• Il Cantiere d’Elsapore (Via Filzi 245, Pegazzano [La Spezia], Italy; phone 0187 718038). Located in a small village near La Spezia, this is one of the very best restaurants we’ve experienced in Italy.

Elsa, the owner, has a day job, but at night (except on Wednesday) she invents dishes and serves them to the lucky locals who know about her place (not frequented by tourists). There is no menu. Guests are treated to a different presentation each night.

We had five antipasti, a most delicious onion-and-Swiss-cheese soup, two primi piattis (pastas) and, with a grape sauce, a main dish of the most thinly sliced veal I’ve ever seen prepared. Dessert, coffee and limoncello followed.

The total for four, including wine with dinner, was only €90 ($113). I would suggest calling ahead for reservations as it was crowded on a Thursday evening. Very memorable!

JILL HILLARY
Cambria, CA