On our recent trip to Italy this summer, my goal was to have every portion of the trip that constituted travel to be paid with using rewards. After all, we had already gotten the flights on British Airways Avios saving, $4,700 and our 4 night stay in Milan was paid for using 120,000 World Of Hyatt points saving close to $3,000.
In addition, I had a lot of Capital One miles due to Rob securing a Captital One Spark Miles Card with a 200,000 mile bonus last year (what?!?!) and I have also had Rob switch some of his bigger business expenses to this card, so his balance has substantially increased. I decided to use these miles to pay for our $1950ish stay at the Filario Hotel on Lake Como via a statement credit using the Capital One Purchase Eraser feature. With Purchase Eraser, I redeem Capital One miles at a rate of 1 cent/1 point. So for this stay, I used about 195,000 miles.
A note about our stay……
A rare occurrence, but I booked Lake Como very late. (At the last minute, I ditched Cinque Terre for fear of the crowds and booked us in Lake Como instead). Like I mentioned above, we stayed at Filario Hotel in the town of Lezzeno. As you can see from the photo, our accommodations were quite nice with a lake view terrace that I took advantage of every chance I got when I was in the room. Early mornings were especially peaceful and scenic. The pool was warm like a bathtub with an amazing view and there were plenty of cushy lounge chairs at the beach on the lake. One day, we enjoyed a yummy lunch at the al fresco bistrot at the hotel. In addition, there were complimentary kayaks, paddle boards and pedal boats available for us.
However, the location of the hotel was not ideal by any means. We wanted to explore Lake Como and the surrounding towns. We didn’t have a car (and I don’t think I would have wanted one…crazy drivers, no parking, etc. ) and were reliant on ferry times. Water taxis were prohibitively expensive and road taxis needed to be arranged in advance (30 euros one way). Lezzeno was a difficult place to base. Our friends stayed in Bellagio (where we went for dinner 2/3 nights) and they were tucked away in their cozy beds while Rob and I waited for our taxi to take us back to Lezzeno. I think our accommodations would have been perfect if you wanted a place on the lake and didn’t want to venture out. I would not recommend the place if you do not have a car and you wish to explore the other lake towns.
Unless of course, you are staying for free. 🙂