Experience the magical splendour of this Italian hide-away
Villa d'Este is located by the beautiful Lake Como, known for its serenity, and home to many stars and business magnates. The hotel was originally known as Villa del Garovo, and once the home of the Bishop of Como in the sixteenth century.
The building once housed a convent for nuns, founded by Gerardo Landriani, but this was later demolished by Tolomeo Gallio, as he commissioned the Italian Mannerist architect, sculptor, and mural painter Pellegrino Tibaldi to design a residence for him. The villa was constructed around 1565 and took five years to complete. Just like today, it was once the place of rendez-vous for politicians, intellectuals, and ecclesiastics.
After Tolomeo Gallio had passed away, he left the estate to his family, who unfortunately let the place decay. It has since been through several ownerships, including several Counts, until the renowned Milanese Marquis Calderari and his beautiful wife, the ballarina Vittoria Peluso – who danced at La Scala, restored the house and the park. Before it was finally turned into a hotel, the property belonged to the estranged wife of the future King George IV Caroline of Brunswick, who adored the place, and felt enchanted by the location. She created the layout of the English garden and renamed the house to Nuova Villa d'Este.
From 1873 and onwards the Villa was converted into a luxurious hotel, known as the hideout of movie stars, kings and queens, the bourgeoisie and the jet-set. Magical and old-worldly, the hotel is timeless and to highlight the fantastical setting, the Villa also took part in an intense evening of murder, when a wealthy silk manufacturer Carlo Sacchi was shot dead by his lover Countess Pia Bellentani, using her husband's automatic pistol.
The rooms are designed with richly decorated fabrics, historic pieces of artwork, and beautiful mahogany wardrobes. The marble bathrooms entail a bath series decorated with a blue-flowered print including a shampoo series blended with infused oil. Much to our on-going delight, every evening our bathroom would include a bouquet of roses in a new shade of pastel. When we arrived the room had a Romanesque-like tray of grapes, chocolate, and champagne, setting the scenery and entrance onto the balcony with one of the best views of the Como lake. The evening light and the sunset was captivating and awe-inspiring.
We were invited to try one of the hotels mahogany speedboats from the sixties, taking us to the Villa del Balbianella where films such as Ian Flemings’ Casino Royale and Star Wars were filmed. The house was owned by the explorer Guido Monzino, who was the leader of the first Italian expedition to climb Mount Everest. While Monzino left the exterior essentially unchanged he had the interior of the villa completely redecorated, installing important pieces of English Georgian and French antique furniture from the 18th and 19th centuries, Beauvais tapestries, French boiseries, and Oriental carpets alongside artifacts that he had acquired on his expeditions.
Together, all the impressions of Villa d'Este will last for many years to come, but we won't wait for that long until our next journey to the magical place – a place where you instantly feel at home.
