Passalacqua

Accolades come and go but pick up the title of ‘best hotel in the world’ – as judged by a team of industry experts in 2023 – and people start to take notice.

Originally a private villa built in 1787 on the shores of Lake Como, with 24 rooms and suites Passalacqua is the smaller sister of the Grand Hotel Tremezzo and is run by the same family to the same impeccably high standards. The setting is sensational – seven acres of terraced lakeside gardens, primped to perfection and filled with olive groves, roses, centuries-old cedars and winding pathways.

The 12 rooms and suites in the main villa are classically Italian, adorned with original frescos, hand-painted wooden tables, gilded mirrors and carved ceilings. Eight further rooms are set behind the villa in the former stables, complete with giant original exposed beams. While down by the lake is Casa al Lago, whose four rooms and suites can be taken room by room or booked out in its entirety. Every inch has been meticulously dressed with precious antiques, hand-blown Murano glass chandeliers, paintings, silks, busts and objets d’art, in a devotion to detail that’s almost without equal.

Surprises await on each tier of the gardens: an outdoor pool shaded by vibrant parasols on one, a bocce court and kitchen garden on another. You’ll also find a spa with a steam room and sauna, four sleek boats ready to take guests from the private pier out on trips around the lake, and a laidback restaurant with an open kitchen that guests are frequently invited into to discuss options with the chef.