We stayed there for just one night about five years ago and its a really great hotel with a fabulous restuarant located in one of my favourite regions in all Europe.
The property often turns up regularly listed in the top 10 hotels in all Europe and is actually in Cernobbio a few miles from the town of Como itself.
The dining room faces the lake directly and you can dine on the outside patio as you watch the small ferry/water taxi boats as they stop at each small town.
Evey time Italy comes up my wife mentions the place.

Lake Como is a blue, very deep, L shaped lake with lots of small villages and expensive villas sort of clinging to the steep hill-sides. There is good coverage by the ferries some which do a circle trip to most of the lakeside towns so stopping at places of your choice is not a problem.
But you are much better off doing your exploring by car. There is a beautiful, winding but often very narrow roads (you will have to back up in places to let buses or trucks pass)which circles the lake often at elevations which make for spectacular scenery take you time as you are not going to be zippping along on these roads

IMHO a few places not to miss:
1) The Finicular at Brunate which gives spectacular panorama of the entire region.
2) Villa Carllota with fantastic formal gradens situated on a slope which can be seen even from the opposite side of the lake.
The interior of the villa has a large collection of sculpture.
3) Bellagio (considered by some the most beautiful town in Europe) located at the apex of the two lake legs.
The place makes the Las Vegas casino of the same name look like a joke.
We were quite sad to leave the region after two day visit but had to met some friends in Bologna.
We plan go back perhaps next year on our way to visit Venice again.
mike
Edited to add sorry I cannot comment on the spa since we did not visit that part of the property.



[This message has been edited by MIKESILV (edited 06-21-2003).]