The Whirlwind Tour Continues in Baveno

Next we visited Baveno, a lake town near the border of Switzerland. I am now writing in the past-tense because I am actually sitting in Venice over-looking the Grand Canal. But I must tell about my experience in this lake town, staying at the fleabag Dino Hotel, before I go on about taking a couple of lake tours by boat.

The "Grand Hotel Dino" is a has-been and now is not a first-class operation. The place has seen better days and is fast fading fast into third-classdom. I'm being polite. There was hardly a smile on the faces of workers as we walked in the front door. The first thing we noticed when we walked into our room was dead bugs by the sliding door-- makes you wonder what else is lurking in the place, you know? Sally saw cockroaches scurrying about the lobby, and later, as we were checking out, saw a worker spraying insecticide in the hallway where our room was.

I could have more easily slept on my pool table as the bed in this room-- it was the hardest mattress I have ever slept on. I slept because I was exhausted. The king-sized beds in the Dino are basically two twin box-springs pushed together. At least the air conditioner worked-- for us. Other tourers on our Italian Escapade were not so fortunate.

We heard that one couple had a room with a leaking ceiling. Rather than moving them to another room, the hotel management ordered a towel and a bucket they had to step over to get to their bathroom. 

I naturally awaken around 5:30 am and since there is no coffee service in the room, I went down to the restaurant to ask for a cup of coffee. The first waiter I saw did not pause for one moment to ask me if he could help me, so I waved down the next person I saw. He hesitated but did not stop, then turned as if he knew better than to leave me standing there. I asked for coffee. He replied, "Now?" I replied, "Hmmm, yes, now." He brought me a pot of brewed coffee in a carafe with some cream. One redeeming flicker in an otherwise dismal stay.

Here's the hotel link so you will know exactly which place I'm talking about:

http://dino.zaccherahotels.com/en/

Yes, this same hotel rated 4stars on booking dotcom and 4.5stars on tripadvisor dot com. MORE Hmmm.