Hotel Rio Muralto in Locarno

✅ The staff here have a great service mind, especially Sharon. She’s very friendly and welcoming, which made my stay in Locarno more memorable.
✅ Great location. Right across the street from train and bus station, a short walk to the lake, and walkable to the town center.
💬 The room is quite spacious and clean but the bathroom is semi-open, separated from the bedroom by a glass partition that doesn’t fully seal.
💬 The breakfast options are somewhat limited but the quality is good.
Wish I could stay more nights here in Locarno, more places that I want to visit!

Super friendly staff and convenient location close to the main train station. Perfect for a short break in Locarno!

I rate this hotel 5 stars, but only for certain circumstances such as short stays eg. you are breaking up a long journey and need somewhere to stopover for a night. The location is great - it is five minutes or less walk from the train station. The service by Giacomo was excellent. Nowadays, unless you ask, you rarely get to experience 'old school' service from hotels where the manager/receptionist bothers to give you a map and point out where you can go. But Giacomo did that for us on his own initiative. He was also exceedingly friendly and polite in all our interactions, and when we were at breakfast he came over to ask if we wanted eggs. I noticed he checked in on all the guests as well.

But on to the not so good parts. I would hesitate to recommend this hotel for longer stays. The hotel building looks to be quite old, and it really shows in the rooms. There is a general feeling of everything being quite dated and old. The floors are not even, and seem quite thin. The bathrooms are equipped with 'old school' soap rather than liquid soap for handwashing. On the plus side there was no problem with the wifi. The breakfast buffet was very average.

The hotel is directly next to the train station, which is convenient. It is a charming building, nicely renovated and modernized, very clean. The personnel is friendly and professional. The front desk closes at 8:00pm, so you need to check in before that. The breakfast is nice, and they cook eggs for you. You can use the automated coffee machine in the breakfast room all day at no cost. Good value.

Recently we spent 4 nights at the Hotel Garni Rio. The hotel is located next to the main train station in Locarno. There is also bus service in front of the station which makes it very easy to get around both Locarno and Ascona. The Piazza Grande is only a short walk from the hotel. Boat service to the Isole de Brissago is also only minutes away from the hotel on foot. The hotel is very clean and well kept. Reception was alway very friendly and helpful. We enjoyed our stay at the hotel and would not hesitate to recommend the hotel to friends.

Paring, still have to use stairs with luggage when you park.

My morning staff person (Vincent ? 04/25/26; hope that's your name) was absolutely amazing

Friendly, clean, close to Old Town—air conditioning! Recommended!

Clean, comfortable and well located hotel with very friendly and helpful staff. Parking available and convenient. Decent breakfast and coffee. Only let down was the bathroom in the economy room…. It has frosted glass walls (you can see quite a bit through these walls) that do not run floor to ceiling, making it very awkward given I stayed here with a friend. We did our best with it, but it would stop me from booking the room again.

The hotel is centrally located, is clean, the staff is very friendly and accommodating and the breakfast is sufficient (there is sure to be something for everyone).
We would book this hotel again.

Excellent stay! Will definitely recommend. Rooms were spacious and very clean.