Lake Como Favorite place to stay

I would stay one place for four nights. No sense going through the bother of relocating. Varenna is very convenient (and cute!) if you are taking the train.

Just above Bellagio at Borgo del Terrazze. http://www.borgoleterrazze.com

Just choose a place in the midlake and stay there the whole time. Changing accommodations is a waste of time if you just move a,short distance away.
Varenna, Bellagio, Menaggio are all wonderful choices. Varenna is along the rail line, but the others are just a short ferry ride away from Varenna. Bellagio is the most famous. Menaggio is perfectly located if you plan to visit Lugano in Switzerland. The choice is yours.

We will be taking the train. Probably will be coming from Venice. I think Im interested in either Varenna Bellagio. It seems like if we stayed in varenna that we could take a ferry over to see Bellagio. Any other reasons to stay at one vs. the other. We like to be close to things to get out and look around but also would like a place with great views. If any particular places stand out that you have stayed out please share!

"It seems like if we stayed in varenna that we could take a ferry over to see Bellagio."

Exactly - that's why everyone (including me) is saying to pick one or the other. I much preferred Varenna, but of course others have other opinions.

I stayed at the Albergo Beretta (found in Rick's book) near Varenna's train station and boat dock, which was inexpensive. If you're looking for fancy, it's won't do, but it's fine for the price.

"I stayed at the Albergo Beretta (found in Rick's book) near Varenna's train station and boat dock, which was inexpensive. If
you're looking for fancy, it's won't do, but it's fine for the price."

I am glad to read this. We have reservations at Albergo Beretta in May:)

My recommendation is quite different than the others ... I recommend Gravedona on the northwest side of lake. I stayed at the Hotel Regina for 3 nights in late May in 2015 and loved it. I had a lakefront room for 90 euros, and it included a lovely breakfast. I took train from Milan, then switched to bus to get there. It was easy to take bus, then ferry to the more populated and touristy areas.
If you'd like more info I'd be happy to pass on more details.

Update: there is very limited availability for us in lake Como for our dates. For our budget we may have to stay just two nights to get a place we want instead of three nights. One alternative is going to cinque Terre instead of lake como. Would this be an awful mistake to subsitute?

When you say "limited availability for our dates," are you just looking at online booking engines, or have you e-mailed hotels directly? The hotels in Varenna are relatively small, so they may not release all their rooms to the online booking engines, but hold a few back for direct booking.

Yes I have just loooked at online booking. We just need to be close to train and city center since we won’t have a car. Looking to pay less than $200 a night. Just want it to be very clean with a good host and nice bed and linens