Lake Como's villas have always attracted the sort of people who make for interesting company, and this 18th-century Moltrasio beauty is no exception. Count Lucini-Passalacqua built the place, composer Vincenzo Bellini wrote two operas between its walls, and Napoleon and Churchill have both popped by. Today, the De Santis family have poured three years of love (and a lot of antique-market hauls) into transforming it into a 24-room hotel that somehow still feels like a private home. Seven acres of terraced gardens cascade to the shoreline, Murano chandeliers drip from the frescoed ceilings and the whole thing is gloriously, unapologetically over the top. It was winner of the World's Best Hotel in 2023, no less.
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The De Santis family decorated every inch of Passalacqua themselves, no interior designers in sight, and the result feels personal and a little bit eccentric. Frescoed salons lead to a cosy library, a well-stocked bar and open kitchen where chef Viviana Varese serves unfussy, seasonal Italian dishes (the spaghetti pomodoro is legendary). Eat wherever takes your fancy: the terrace, the gardens, poolside. The former greenhouse is now a gorgeous all-day café dressed in La Double J prints, and a new spa carved into the villa's underground tunnels has an 18-metre indoor pool.
24 rooms are spread across three buildings, each with its own signature flair: the Villa has 12 suites with ornate ceilings, original frescoes and views straight down to the water; the Palazz, in the converted stables, has a moodier feel with its jewel-toned walls and and Venetian silk lamps; and down by the lake, the four-suite Casa al Lago is breezier and more eclectic, and can be booked exclusively. The crown jewel? The theatrical Bellini Suite, with its double-height music room, grand piano and Murano chandeliers.
Cruise the lake on one of two wooden launches, stopping at medieval villages, Villa Balbianello (of Casino Royale fame) and the shoreline that Mr Clooney calls home. Back on dry land, there's a clay tennis court, a bocce pitch and open-air cinema evenings under the trees. The daily activities programme changes with the seasons: flower arranging, cooking classes, yoga beneath the magnolias or wine tastings in the cellar. Or do as the Italians do and embrace dolce far niente: the pool terrace, edged by climbing roses, practically insists on it.
Breakfast. A towering cake stand of pastries, eggs from the villa's own hens, and a chef ready to cook anything you fancy, served wherever you please too.
Join the gelato-making class with Laura, who runs Moltrasio's own gelateria. It's a fun afternoon and you'll never look at shop-bought the same way again.
Rooms in the Palazz face the courtyard rather than the lake, so if waking up to a water view matters, it's worth specifying when you book.
Lakeside real estate, dreamy hotels and the epitome of the good life.
