Villa D'Este

In the past, I had already had the privilege of dining at Villa d'Este. I often frequented the bar after dinner to go have a last drink before sleeping, and I had a few aperitifs there. So I knew well what I was getting into. I knew that the service and the quality would not disappoint me, just as it is impossible to be disappointed by the property and the location. Truly impossible. Just seeing the bathrooms is enough: the bathrooms are practically small suites, so imagine everything else! Every year Villa d'Este, for the American holiday of July 4th, organizes a themed dinner, complete with a show and fireworks. To be able to describe the evening, I need to arm myself with a dictionary and look for the exact terms to do it justice. Having established that the location is breathtaking, as already mentioned — but it really is so beautiful that I could go on for hours repeating it — the aperitif before the start of the dinner was a very positive beginning. I hadn't imagined it like that and it surprised me a lot. Waiters with trays in their hands full of glasses of champagne — there was other stuff too, but I, having nothing against champagne, dedicated myself to that and honestly I don't know what else they were serving. You wouldn't even have time to finish your glass before the waiter would materialize in front of you, either with the bottle to refill your glass or with the tray to offer you one. The appetizers that were going around were a sight for the eyes and a joy for the palate, a balance and a flavor from the Arabian Nights. I felt like I was in a movie, like in those TV series where in the morning a person gets up and says "tonight we're throwing a party" and in the evening the whole city is at the private party! Beautiful, beautiful people. I feasted my eyes seeing so much elegance: the women in dresses and the men dressed like men. I think it's worth it just for that, to see that class and elegance again that the world has forgotten. The table was a little jewel. Set with candles and fresh flowers, it was a real treat. Fixed menu with water and wine included. You certainly won't leave hungry or thirsty. The portions were just right, and the glasses were never, ever empty, not even for a second: they were promptly refilled with both water and wine. Fixed menus and beautiful locations, as we know, sometimes disappoint. Just think of New Year's Eve, where you often pay a lot and eat poorly, so the thought that something similar could happen here had crossed our minds. We ask the chef for forgiveness for even thinking it! Everything was truly perfect. Dinner passed with flying colors! I thought it would be one of those once-in-a-lifetime experiences, but we had such a good time and everything was so wonderful that it might just become our tradition too. A regular appointment where, for one evening, everything around you is just magic and beauty.

This hotel is rightly a member of Leading Hotels of the World. The building is well maintained and it has an idyllic position on Lake Como. We stayed here largely because of its mention in the Michelin Green Guide to Italy. Staff were very helpful when we discovered that we should have reserved a table at the Grill and Platano restaurants on arrival if not well before. On the downside, we felt that the restaurant availability issue should have been highlighted earlier. Dining at the hotel is an integral part of the experience as it is a resort style hotel. I appreciate the reason for the jacket requirement at the Veranda but we travel light (hand carry only on airlines) and I wasn't going to bring a jacket half the way round the world to dine in an ambient temperature of 36˚C as it was when we were there. The one dining "experience" that was freely available was the "Sapori di Mare" meal, which was good but offered far too much food. One should finish a good meal feeling satisfied but we felt bloated. The gardens are well maintained up to a point. Some of the space is now taken up by tennis courts and I was a bit disappointed by the state of the "hiking"/jogging paths. These are definitely worth exploring and give splendid views on to the lake, villa and grounds but were covered by fallen leaves (in June) and we found one of the jogging direction signs lying on the ground at a path junction. With all the staff around, perhaps someone could be spared to sweep away the leaves and maintain the signage? Better signage of the "hiking" trails would definitely add value to this part of the experience.

Situated on the shore of Lake Como Incredible