The siren song of northern Italy beckons to us all at some point, and the best hotels in Lake Como brilliantly capture the allure of the region. Grand wedding cake villas ring the lake, their façades mirrored in the water, while in the distance lie the Alps. It’s a landscape that has drawn tourists for centuries and has come to embody the Italian concept of sweet to do nothingor the sweetness of doing nothing. But in Como, “nothing” means sailing in a riva boat on the lake, meandering through a garden, or sipping a Campari spritz by a pool.
The 18th-century birth of the European “Grand Tour” unleashed a worldwide obsession with Como that brought artists, writers, composers, statesmen, and other well-heeled visitors to the lake’s shores. Today, the area’s appeal remains unceasing, and its landscape largely preserved in its mix of Belle Époque and neoclassical designs. Luckily for travelers, Como’s accommodations—from centuries old palaces to hotels that were built to rival the grandeur of the region’s famous villas themselves, are more than places to stay. They’re some of the lake’s most captivating treasures.
Perks: Lake access, spa, pool, fine dining restaurant, in the heart of Bellagio
Passed down in one Italian family for four generations, Grand Hotel Villa Serbelloni is deeply enmeshed in the history of Lake Como. Its many rooms, hallways, and grand staircases retain the allure of a sprawling family estate with antique Murano chandeliers and gilded, overstuffed furniture in Como’s signature romantic opulence. A litany of famous guests have slept within Grand Hotel Villa Serbelloni’s walls, and roaming its halls means unearthing pieces of the hotel’s storied past and closely guarded secrets.
Franz Liszt’s piano sits in a room mostly out of view except for those who look for it. Around a corner is the suite where JFK had an Italian affair that history tried to cover up, and tucked away in a suite is a desk from Winston Churchill’s stay. The hotel’s most unexpected treasure is a utilitarian one: its bedding. The silk duvets which grace each of the guest beds have been hand-sewn since the hotel’s founding in 1873. Originally woven from the silk produced from the mulberry trees that used to grow around lake, the craft has been maintained by the hotel for over 150 years, even as locally grown silk becomes a remnant of the past. Today the silk duvets are still sewn by hand in the underbelly of the hotel. From $1,135 per night.
Perks: Lake access, spa, pool, Michelin-starred restaurant
If Grand Hotel Villa Serbelloni is a pure example of Lake Como’s old-world style, preserved in its opulent splendor, il Sereno represents the new. Built on a stone grotto foundation that looks similar to the base of the other 19th-century wedding cake villas dotting the lake, il Sereno takes a different turn as the eye wanders up, emerging from the lake as a clean-lined modernist vision. The product of Spanish architect Patricia Urquiola, Il Sereno’s contemporary design is very much a choice in a place so prized for a very particular type of beauty. But it’s a welcome breath of fresh air, a clean palette from which the eye is drawn outward to the lake and to the Alps, rather than inwards to ornate woodwork and heavy textile furnishings. Il Sereno is designed as if to convince you to move here, with all-suite guest spaces which have a sexy seductiveness that entices you to linger a little while longer. From $880 per night.
Perks: Lake access, floating pool, fine dining restaurant, historic gardens
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