Lake Como · Moltrasio, on the water
An 18th-century villa above Moltrasio, its gardens stepping down through 7 acres to a private jetty on Lake Como.
Passalacqua sits above Moltrasio on the western shore of Lake Como, about 15 minutes from the town of Como and an hour from Milan. The villa was built at the end of the 18th century for Count Andrea Lucini-Passalacqua, one of Como's leading noble families, and composer Vincenzo Bellini wrote La Sonnambula here during a stay in 1831. The De Santis family, who also own the Grand Hotel Tremezzo further up the lake, bought the house in 2018 and reopened it in June 2022 after a 3-year restoration. Its 24 rooms are spread across 3 separate buildings — the Villa, the Palazz and the Casa al Lago — inside 7 acres of terraced gardens that step down to a private jetty.
Every room here is different, because the Villa was a family home before it was a hotel and each one kept the shape the building gave it. Room in the Villa is the entry point, 40 square metres in blushing pink or pastel green, looking over the old stone roofs of Moltrasio rather than the water. From Room in the Villa with Lake View upward, the lake arrives through tall windows in every grade, and the 2 junior suites above it add a proper sitting room to the view. Suite Bellini, at 250 square metres, holds a neoclassical music room under a double-height vaulted ceiling where Vincenzo Bellini once composed. The Palazz keeps its own smaller, warmer rooms tucked behind the Villa, and the Casa al Lago sits closest to the water of all 3, its own 4 rooms opening straight onto the garden.
The De Santis family, who also run the Grand Hotel Tremezzo, treat every guest as an extension of their own household rather than a room number. A vintage orange Fiat 500, the Spiaggina, ferries guests around the grounds, and the daily activity calendar runs to underground-tunnel tours, gelato-making classes and boat trips on a fleet that includes a restored Riva Olympic launch. The restaurant, the gardens and the pool are kept for guests staying here alone.
The Pool. A heated outdoor pool sits on a garden terrace just below the Villa, edged by climbing roses and a bay tree, with lily-petal parasols shading the loungers. It runs seasonally, open from 1 March to 31 October.
Sottoterra, and the Indoor Pool. Beneath the gardens, an 18th-century stone gallery once used as a service passage now holds a sauna, a steam bath and a second pool, heated and indoors, opening onto a rock-hewn seating area. It can be reserved privately, before or after the regular hours.
The Spa. Treatments run on Seed to Skin, a Tuscan skincare line built from organic and wild ingredients, alongside a new alfresco treatment area set in the orchard. Yoga and meditation run daily beneath a circle of ancient magnolia trees above the lake, and the gym occupies a former greenhouse that spills out into the olive grove beyond it.
The Gardens. Terraced gardens, first laid out in the 18th century, step down around a central axis of water features to a private jetty on the lake. A kitchen garden, a bocce court and an ancient pergola-trained vine of table grapes sit alongside a working fitness lawn and an olive grove, and free-range chickens supply the kitchen's eggs.
Boats and Excursions. A fleet of vintage and modern launches, including a restored Riva Olympic and a new Aquariva, runs excursions to Bellagio, Varenna and the town of Como, along with sunset cruises and a chef-prepared picnic on the water. Beppe, the estate's own boatman, has worked the lake his whole life.
Daily Activities. A seasonal calendar of activities is included in every stay: a tour of the underground tunnels, a gelato-making class with a master ice-cream maker, cooking lessons in the Villa's open kitchen, and open-air cinema evenings under the stars. Tennis, bocce and board games round out the days that stay closer to home.
Passalacqua's 24 rooms sit in 3 separate buildings, and the choice between them matters more than any other on this ladder. The Villa holds 12 rooms and the grandest suites, and is the heart of the original 18th-century house.
The Palazz, tucked behind it around a shared courtyard, holds 8 smaller, warmer rooms, none of them on the lake. The Casa al Lago holds the remaining 4, closest to the water of the 3 and the only building where every room opens onto its own private garden.
Most sizes on this ladder are averages rather than one fixed number — 9 of the 12 rooms, because Passalacqua was a family home before it was a hotel and no two rooms share quite the same shape.
Suite Agnese in the Villa, Suite Norma in the Villa with Lake View and Suite Bellini in the Villa with Lake View are the exceptions, each with one size stated outright: 90, 120 and 250 square metres.
Junior Suite in the Villa with Lake View is 70 square metres, with an open-plan bedroom and living room framing the lake through tall windows.
Junior Suite al Lago is 60, in the Casa al Lago instead, with its own private-dining patio a few steps from the water.
Grand Junior Suite in the Villa with Lake View goes further again, at 85 square metres and grand enough to entertain royalty.
Suite Bellini, at 250 square metres, holds a neoclassical music room under a double-height vaulted ceiling where Vincenzo Bellini once composed.
Via Besana 59
Moltrasio, Como 22010
Italy
Rates are quoted for your dates.
Room in the Palazz, Grand Room in the Palazz, Room in the Villa and Suite Agnese in the Villa are the 4 grades without a lake view; each looks instead over the courtyard, the gardens or the old rooftops of Moltrasio. The other 8 grades carry Lake View in their own name, and mean it: every one of them frames the water through its own windows or terrace.
Room
37 m² · Sleeps 2
The courtyard between the Palazz and the Villa
Room in the Palazz is 37 square metres, one of 4 rooms in warm terracotta or burnished green, with a bathroom lined in Levanto marble.
Room
50 m² · Sleeps 2
The gardens and courtyard behind the Villa
Grand Room in the Palazz is 50 square metres, with original ceiling beams and a roll-top tub set at the base of an ancient tower.
Room
40 m² · Sleeps 2
The ancient stone houses of Moltrasio
Room in the Villa is 40 square metres in blushing pink or pastel green, looking over the old stone houses of Moltrasio.
Room
50 m² · Sleeps 2
The lake, through the room's own window
Room in the Villa with Lake View is 50 square metres, its windows giving an endlessly changing view of the lake.
Suite
70 m² · Sleeps 2
The lake, framed like a landscape painting
Junior Suite in the Villa with Lake View is 70 square metres, an open-plan bedroom and living room with the lake framed like a landscape painting.
Suite
85 m² · Sleeps 2
The lake, through windows on an open-space suite
Grand Junior Suite in the Villa with Lake View is 85 square metres, crowned by stuccoed ceilings and grand enough to entertain royalty.
Suite
250 m² · Sleeps 2
The lake, through windows across a villa-sized suite
Suite Bellini in the Villa with Lake View is 250 square metres, practically a villa within the Villa, centred on a music room where Vincenzo Bellini once composed.
Suite
60 m² · Sleeps 2
The lake, from a patio a few steps away
Junior Suite al Lago with Lake View is 60 square metres, opening onto a private-dining patio and garden perched right above the lake.
Suite
90 m² · Sleeps 2
The Palazz and the old rooftops of Moltrasio
Priced on request
Suite Agnese in the Villa is 90 square metres, an enfilade of rooms in sky blue and terracotta looking over the Palazz and Moltrasio.
Suite
120 m² · Sleeps 2
The lake, unfolding along an enfilade of rooms
Priced on request
Suite Norma in the Villa with Lake View is 120 square metres, an enfilade of rooms with unparalleled lake vistas unfolding as you walk its length.
Room
30 m² · Sleeps 2
The garden, with the lake and its far shore beyond
Priced on request
Room al Lago with Lake View is 30 square metres, its own private garden framed by trees with a close-up view of the lake and its far shore.
Room
40 m² · Sleeps 2
The garden, with the lake and its far shore beyond
Priced on request
Grand Room al Lago with Lake View is 40 square metres, framed by 2 pine trees on a large terrace garden with a close-up lake view.
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