Villa d'Este: what it's like to stay at the grande dame of Lake Como
There are legendary hotels in Italy that need no introduction. Le Sirenuse in Positano. Il Pellicano in Porto Ercole. Grand Hotel Timeo in Sicily. And Villa d’Este in Lake Como. The grand old lady of the lake was built in 1568, giving Cardinal Tolomeo Gallio a rather lovely summer residence and letting holidaymakers in on the fun ever since it opened as a hotel in 1873.
Unsurprisingly, it became a popular place for the European aristocracy to summer (and only the upper classes can really use ‘summer’ as a verb), and has remained popular ever since. Famous fans in more recent years have included Bruce Springsteen, Jennifer Aniston and, of course, the unofficial king of Como himself, George Clooney, who is known to pop over from his own casa up the lake in Laglio. We check in to see if the grande dame has managed to retain its charm.
What are the rooms like?
There are rooms in both the main house and the Queen’s Pavilion, a short stroll away past the Grill restaurant. We stayed in a room overlooking the lake in the Queen’s Pavilion, a high-ceilinged confection of antique furniture, pink-toned curtains and carpets, and timeless good taste. This outbuilding (though it’s an understatement to call it that) was built in 1856, and named in honour of Caroline of Brunswick, Queen Consort to King George IV, who bought the villa in 1815.
There are also a handful of self-contained villas dotted around the estate, including the trompe-l’oeil-adorned Villa Cima, refurbished by Loro Piana, in which Lady Gaga sought refuge during the pandemic while she was filming House of Gucci. The hotel was closed but opened just for her.
For something truly memorable, book the Mosaic House, which is cleverly concealed within the intricately tiled nymphaeum, and accessed via a private courtyard, with a terrace that overlooks the fortresses and the lake.
And the grounds?
There are 25 acres of parkland encircling the grand buildings, with centennial trees, statuary and a sloping path past the mosaic-covered nymphaeum that leads up to a stone Hercules. In fact, the grounds are so gorgeous, they became a National Monument in 1913. There are also some fortresses to spot – a relic of the time in the early 19th century when the marquis’ widow remarried a Napoleonic general. The famous floating pool was added along with the new Sporting Club in 1966, and the estate also features tennis courts, a putting green, a chef’s garden and a jogging path. In the summer, it gets better, with alfresco opera by the lake.
How many restaurants does Villa d’Este have?
Restaurants and bars on the estate include La Veranda, the Grill and the Canova Bar, the menus at all of which are overseen by the brilliant and enthusiastic executive chef Michele Zambanini. If you want to be in with a chance of dining with George, head to the Grill – it’s rumoured that he keeps a table there during the summer (out on the lake-edge terrace, naturally).
The elegant La Veranda is in a vast conservatory with windows framing the lake. As befits such a stately setting, the wine list is more like an encyclopaedia, with 3,500 labels and more than 80,000 bottles in the cellar. The sommelier is on a mission to make his collection the finest in the world – at present, his main rivals are the Ritz in Paris and the wonderful, three-Michelin-starred Enoteca Pinchiorri in Florence, where in 2016 I ate a meal I still often dream about.
Here at La Veranda, we were honoured to be invited to dine at the chef’s table, where he plated meals and dispatched them the metre or so to our seats. He was liberal with the truffle – some even found its way into the cuvée. We started with fried dumplings and ham, and somehow the meal got better from there: tomato soup with soppressata and caciocavallo, beef tartare with more white truffle, and tagliolini with tuna tartare, lime and kaluga caviar just some of the dishes that kept on coming.
Is there a spa at Villa d'Este?
High-profile guests need somewhere for a little pampering and the spa at Villa d’Este is on hand with Himalayan salt wraps, green caviar mud masks and a selection of facials to have you ready for a real or imaginary red carpet. It has an indoor pool and a sauna, too.
What is there to do in Lake Como?
A ferry traverses the inverted-Y-shaped waters but to really see the lake in style, only chartering a glamorous wooden Riva boat will do. The hotel has its own jetty, from where you’ll be able to depart on tours of the lake to see all of the famous houses that line its shores. Bellagio is the most well-known town on the lake and it’s the perfect place for a gelato-enhanced scenic stroll.
What’s the best time of year to visit?
Unlike many other hotels in the region, Villa d’Este stays open for Christmas and, as you can imagine, it goes all out. We were there for the big light switch-on in December and it’s no exaggeration to say the decorations took days (and nights) to put in place. Magical doesn’t begin to cut it, especially once they rolled out the real-life Nutcrackers. Of course, with high summer comes the crowds, so it’s also worth visiting in the spring or autumn.
What makes Villa d’Este so unique?
There’s a lot that is distinguished about this grande dame hotel, not least its location right on the banks of the lake and within a short stroll of the centre of Cernobbio. Many Lake Como hotels aren’t as close to the water as they appear, but Villa d’Este is just steps from the shoreline.
A special shout out goes to the hotel’s chocolate room and its eye-popping display of sugary delicacies; and its salon, run by a hairdresser named Pierre and his equally fabulous wife. Portraits of his famous clients, from various Spencers and Heinzes to Janet Leigh, line the walls and birds incongruously chirp above the entrance.
It’s little wonder that Villa d’Este has hosted royalty, heads of state and athletes in their prime over the years. It’s a portal into the past, somewhere elegance, poise and faultless service still matter.
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