Hotel or B and B in Stresa

I stayed here the last time, right in the lake, and was happy about that.
If you have a car they have parking arrangements at another hotel a block away.
The guy pictured in the photo in the web page below is the restaurant manager. He was the only Italian on staff (everyone is foreign). When I asked the staff for a local to ask some tourist info he came to me and said: “I’m a local”. I immediately detected his accent was from Calabria, so I asked:”oh really? You are a local? Then you should be able to suggest for me a ferry to go from Stresa to Tropea (Calabria) then?”. We both had a good laugh.
http://www.milansperanza.it/en/

We live across the bay in Verbania.

With one day definitely take the ferry. You can either do a day pass to see the three islands and Villa Taranto if you Like villa and gardens. You can get on/off the ferry as you like. If I remember right, the summer schedule ends around mid Oct.
There is also a gondola that goes up the mountain from Stresa. We haven’t done that yet, but I’ll try to find a link. Not sure if it runs in Oct.

What’s your nightly budget?

Are you aware there is a bus that goes directly from Stressa to the Airport? Summer services runs through Oct 13. Let me know if you want more info. Easier to get to airport than train.

Here’s link to blog with our Lago Maggiore Adventures.
verbania and Lago Maggiore

Good info. We'd like to stay right on the lake if possible. It will be our last two nights in Italy so we'd like it to be special. 😊 What are your thoughts on staying in Baveno instead of Stresa? We won't have a car so we would like to be walking distance to restaurants, ferry, etc. Thanks!

We also stayed at the Milan Speranza (like Roberto) and enjoyed it. It is about a 15 minute walk from the train station and very close to the lake ferries.

Baveno would be a good place to stay also, Less American tourists. The airport bus also stops in Baveno.

Here’s a couple suggestions from booking.com, based on location and proximity to lake

Hotel Splendid. Baveno
We’ve seen hotel from the ferry and one of the few hotels right on the water vs, across the street with the main road between hotel and water.

Grand Hotel Dino Baveno

Hotel Grand Magestic 4 star hotel in Verbania, about a 10 minute walk from the ferry terminal and historic Pallanza, Lots of walking along the lake from Suna to Intra.

Stresa, Bavena and Verbania Pallanza all have stops for the Alibus going to the airport. Here’s link for 2019
Alibus