A Night Near Malpensa

[Peter Rodgers]

Will be spending a week with friends in Liguria and Piemonte this May and then need to have a jumping off point not too far from Malpensa. Our strong preference is to sleep where we plan to dine and, after some walking through the available guides, it appears that Villa Crespi on Lake Orta or Il Sole di Ranco on Lake Maggiore are good choices. Al Soriso would work as well, but we've not been especially pleased with the restaurant since it was elevated to three stars by the Michelin Guide. Thoughts on the Villa Crespi and Il Sole would be appreciated if anyone has visited recently, as well as additional ideas.

[divina]

I have met the family at sole di Ranco and have sent my mom and manyof my clients there and everyone has loved the meals..and the rooms.

[robert brown]

Peter, I have been to both as diner and sleeper; the Villa Crespi recently (as a diner only this time) and Sole several times, but not in five years or so. Villa Crespi is creepy in a way, a Middle Eastern folie with rooms a bit dark and small as I recall. Sole's rooms are more modern. I liked the food at Villa Crespi, although the choice was limited. Sole is closer to the airport. Villa Crespi is not on the lake and I believe Sole isn't either. I don't see this as one being heads and shoulders above the other. Just to confuse you more, we stayed last time (November, 2005) at the Villa Malpensa, which we didn't like at all, but is a few hundred yards from the Malpensa Terminal so we could dine at Caffe Groppi, a bastion of the gourmands who like their food up to date, which is about 45 minutes from Malpensa. We had an interesting meal that I just didn't have the chance to report on. vmilor dined there a couple of days before we did and I think wrote it up on Gastroville.

[vigna]

A nice place to stay right on Lago d'Orta is Hotel San Rocco. It has very nice but not fancy rooms with views of the lake and there is a great lakeside outdoor pool. Villa Crespi is about 1 km away, so you could dine there and easily return to the San Rocco afterwards.

[Bill Klapp]

Peter, Robert and I had very different experiences at Villa Crespi. My rooms have been neither dark nor small, but rather, spacious and opulent (and I never reserved other than the basic room or one step up). And I find nothing creepy about the Moorish decor. It is on Lago d'Orta, but the lake is at a distance with a lot of foliage in between, so it is not readily visible from all rooms. I find the place incredibly romantic. I ate there in the fall, and despite all of the press and Michelin star that it has received, I still prefer nearby Sorriso, although I cannot fault the dining experience. I have also eaten at Ranco, and I find Crespi and Sorriso to be superior. Sorriso also has rooms, but they are the size of pullman sleepers! San Rocco is almost IN the lake, but it is a modern business/conference center hotel.

[Zip]

We have stayed at a small place in Corgeno called La Cinzianella. It is abt 15 km from Malpensa. The rooms are plain but certainly adequate and clean. The best part is the restaurant. We have had some very good meals here and there is a nice wine cellar. Have stayed at Soriso and Ranco..... this is closer and for airport accessabilty... it works.

Hope this helps.

[Alonzo Bishop]

Villa crespi I found very stodgy, Al Soriso less so. I would suggest lunch at Al Soriso.

The food is superb,as well as the service - less oppressive during daylight. I found the Hotel Orta on the lake a great value. Ask for a lake view room. My room overlooked the charming square and lake. If you are a light sleeper, stay away from the square... Ranco, in my opinion, and I respect the Broveli family, can't compare to Al Soriso, and it isn't much closer to Malpensa.

[robert brown]

We had a bad stay at Hotel San Rocco, our third time there. We made the mistake of staying in the old villa right next door that the hotel must have recently bought. It was overpriced and under-decorated (or badly decorated). It is, however, on the lake and probably a bit forboding in March. You also could hit a convention or conference crowd. It's better in season when there's life and foliage in what is a charming town and a pretty lake overlooked by foreign tourists.

[John Talbott]

Peter, Robert and I had very different experiences at Villa Crespi.  My rooms have been neither dark nor small, but rather, spacious and opulent (and I never reserved other than the basic room or one step up). 

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We too love the Villa Crespi, not creepy for us but splendid and so great to reach Malpensa.

[kphilbin]

Peter, Robert and I had very different experiences at Villa Crespi.  My rooms have been neither dark nor small, but rather, spacious and opulent (and I never reserved other than the basic room or one step up). 

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We too love the Villa Crespi, not creepy for us but splendid and so great to reach Malpensa.

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The restaurant is organised as a series of opulent wooden floored rooms

The decor is rather over the top and gaudy but it is in keeping with the pseudo Moorish architecture

The chef has increasingly gravitated to raw fish on his menu which does not change very often.

If you are there as a couple, get a table in the cloistered area at the rear of the hotel.

The veal in honey and chilli is exquisite as are the desserts

I have been there a dozen or so times over the years and it's fabulous and has a restaurant feel rather than a hotel feel.

The rooms have parquet floors, are filled with old furniture and have oldish fittings in the bathrooms and 19thc window frames which may account for the reference to creepiness. They aren't and it's a change from anywhere you have stayed before.

Professional and friendly staff

Finally, whilst the menu doesn't change so often, the chef will change and adapt and cook bespoke dishes

It's well worth a visit and that includes the rooms

[hathor]

For anyone with a well developed sense of the ironic, there is always the Hotel Paradiso. Very clean, very near the airport and they will drive you to and from any restaurant in the area.

Great toothbrushes and wonderful Hotel Paradiso notepads to remind you of when Alitalia canceled your flight and you had to spend the night.

[pedalaforte]

Peter: We are sold completely on staying in Oleggio, a town with a quaint central section just west of Malpensa. We like the Hotel Roma, just outside the small centro and within a five-minute walk of a fantastic restaurant, Il Gatto e La Volpe (a Slow Food place). There also is a great pizza place rigth on the central square if you want to go cheap.

Oleggio is an EASY 15-minute drive on a back road to Malpensa. It is the most convenient, traffic-free place I've found that still has some character -- great character, in fact.

Do consider it if you are looking for some thing besides the lakes region. It's nice for a final night. I would, however, try to book a room at the Roma. I think people are beginning to find out aboutthis town and the hotel. It was filled on a Monday night in November when we were there last, and we had an awaful night at one of the polished new ugly places. It still was a short hop tot he airport, just not as quaint.

[robert brown]

The dinner four of us had at the Villa Crespi two years ago ranked among the most disappointing and therefore making, to my mind, the restaurant one of the most overrated in Italy. My hunch is that Sole is the best bet in the vicinity of the airport. The Villa Cresp is best enjoyed as a minor tourist attraction as the rooms there are not much better than okay. For a lunch or dinner you may want to consider Caffe Groppi in Trecate. The owner-chef is young, up and comng and inventive. I enjoyed my dinner there 18 months ago even though I'm a traditionalist who puts impeccable producer as my #1 priority, which is not to say that Caffe Groppi doesn't have it. First determine, however, if it's a bit out of reach in terms of time and distance.

[RRainey]

I would stay at Lake Orta as mu wife and I love it and thing it is the most romantic lake in Italy, we have stayed there 3 times.

Al soriso is 6.5 km away( never been) il sole di Rancio is 12 km away.

[Bill Klapp]

Having dined at Crespi, Ranco and Sorriso, I would find it impossible to put Crespi and Ranco in the same company as Sorriso, which has delivered consistent top quality for a very long time. Crespi is very good, mind you, and deserving of some of its accolades, but for my taste, a little too much flashiness and inconsistent quality of the dishes.

[robert brown]

Peter, now that I have read again your inquiry, I gather that you want a place to recover from your flight from the US? Am I rigfht about that? Villa Crespi is not on the lake whereas the San Rocca in Orta San Giulio is. That hotel has a nice setting on the water, but with just adequate accomodations (Don't stay in the Villa they recently took over). From there it's a short drive to either Villa Crespi or Sorriso. In general I have to say that gastronomy around the lakes district is generally my least favorite in Northern Italy, so good luck. (If it were me, I would simply stay in Milan and dine in one of my favorite restaurants, but I can also appreciate the peace and quiet and relaxation of what you are planning.)

Where in Liguria are you going?

[PaoloF]

A different option is the Taverna dell'Antico Agnello (The Old Lamb's Tavern), 50m far the central square of Orta. I met the manageress, Mrs. Lilli Romussi, 14 years ago just by chance during a flight from...Mumbai to New Delhi! We certainly were the only two Italians aboard and were sitting in the same row! Lilli's dream was a slice of creamy, velvety Gorgonzola and a glass of Ghemme, the local, thin, elegant variety of Nebbiolo from Novaresi Hills, after a month of lveg -but delicious!- Indian food...

They serve the traditional food of local cookery (risotto&pastas; polenta, porcini, game, cheeses and obvously fresh-water fish such as pike or char) at very reasonable price. Some rooms to overnight.