Haven for Hedonists
By M eena N arayan
You don’t have to lift a finger here, even your unpacking
and packing is done by the staff. All you need do is bask
in the grandeur of Italy’s Lake District and savour the
food and opulence that you will find at the quintessential
grand hotel, Villa d’Este
158 Gulf Connoisseur October/November 2009 Gulf Connoisseur October/November 2009 159
An evening by Lake Como (previous pages), The glamorous Villa d’
Este by night (above), Dr. Jean Marc Droulers, the President & Chief
Executive Officer of Villa d'Este (left), The Lake Terrace and Canova
Bar areas
his is a haven for hedonists. With nothing to do,
T except bask in lethargic luxury and partake of
the sumptuous edible and visual delights, you
will find this majestic palace converted into a hotel,
catering to your every whim and fancy. Majestically
secluded behind private gates, Villa d’este, voted ‘The
Best Hotel in the World’ by Forbes, lies on the
western shores of Lake Combo, separating Italy from
Switzerland.
The hotel has hosted everyone from Mark Twain
to Joseph Heller, Clark Gable to Mel Gibson, Carreras
to Madonna to name just a few. Many of the guests
arrive by helicopter or private boat.
The hotel itself is an opulent palatial villa with
gardens, designed in the mid 1500’s as a summer
residence for a cardinal. It has now become the
favourite haunt of the rich and the famous and a place
where you could choose to be lavished with attention
or just left alone.
Driving past the resort’s iron gates, we are greeted
by this sprawling palace right on the water front. It
seems to enfold its privileged guests into its warm
embrace. White stucco, beige stonework, red-tiled
roofs, the magnolias, the statues, the tailored hedges
all bespeak of opulence.
As soon as the car pulls into the portico, our
luggage is smoothly whisked away. We walk into the
huge lobby of mellowed sugar-white marble,
Wedgewood blue panelling, fluted columns, majestic
symmetrical staircases, crystal chandeliers, period
furniture and austere portraits.
Silly, but I feel like aristocracy myself, being
escorted by two pampering concierges. A marble
staircase leads us to a private reception area, from
where we are led through huge hallways lined with
classic sculptures and paintings. It is all so
160 Gulf Connoisseur October/November 2009 Gulf Connoisseur October/November 2009 161
The luxurious Beauty Centre is an area of complete relaxation The ‘King of Risotto’ – Chef Luciano Parolari with his team
exaggerated in its opulence, so its own unique charm, with such terrace that overlooks the lake. Or if dancing. There are pools of green I sit at the back and watch the crags to light up a warren of stone
operatic that I feel overwhelmed. It is amenities as air-conditioning and you prefer a ramble along the water, light on the lawn; white jacketed landscape unfold rather dramatically. and elaborate ironwork. The sheer
my birthday and I cannot think of a telephones but no intruding radio, you can follow the paths to the waiters hurry by under the trees and I There’s the bracing wind, the spray abundance and romantic intricacies
better place to be in! unless specifically requested. Here entrance of the great formal garden, can hear the boats straining at their and the flashing silver glints of fish of it all is breathtaking.
The period furniture is painted modern conveniences combine with passing through its architectural moorings. Taking a last look at the flicking their tails on the surface. But The Villa, in fact, is steeped in
ochre and turquoise and the fridge is la dolce vita of another era. portals, for a walk up the hillside. full moon, I retire to my room and what makes Lake Combo truly history. From 1815 to 1821 it was
discreetly hidden in an Empire-style The view outside is of neat After a sumptuous dinner that sink back into the inviting warmth of beautiful and the ride unlike any owned by Caroline, Princess of Wales,
cabinet. The bed is majestic; the gardens, dominated by a magnolia comprises of a delicate cone of the linen sheets that have been other are the villas or rather the the estranged Queen of George IV,
wardrobes could house a score of tree and beyond, the hotel’s second watercress puree with a studied turned down for a night of combination of villas, villages and tiny who had only married her for her
dinner jackets and ball gowns and building, restored in impressive dark colour scheme of perfectly cooked bottomless sleep. harbours – the way centuries of dowry. Caroline spent her only happy
still leave room for a wide selection red. To the right are the lakeshore vegetables, laid individually on Next morning we decide to wealth and good taste have years here, partying and running up
of things more comfortable to slip and a swimming pool, complete with gleaming bone china followed by a explore the lake by boat after a hearty successfully exploited the most debts, while her Royal husband tried
into afterwards. Jacuzzi, just off the terrace. pasta course in gorgeous pink and breakfast. They say it is the best way arduous of terrain to produce gem to divorce her. The last owner, before
The room is relaxing, with Over the water a fine mist is green hues with lobster and broccoli to really see the village and villas after gem after gem. it became a hotel in 1873, was
windows that open outwards and coming down from the mountains, if sauce and topped off with a luscious along the shore. As I wait for the boat Cherubs peep from manicured Russian Tsarina, Maria Fedorowna.
other shutters that slide across and you belonged to the era of the lemon pie in a pool of delicate doily by the dock, strains of Italian songs hedges on weathered slopes; there Service today is almost as discreet and
lace curtains and velvet drapes with Romantic poets you would have patterned caramel. drift across. The boat arrives on time are belvederes, gazebos, chapels, personal as it was for those royal
complicated mechanisms for sliding easily created poems revolving After dinner, we linger in the and pulls out into the landscape, fifteenth and sixteenth century inhabitants.
them across or tying them with around the delicious melancholy; its velvety moonlit night on the lake- which appears at once sunny and architecture rising sheer from the Certainly Como and the lovely
sashes, so that you can always adjust invitation to revel in creative front, listening to the lapping waves sombre, a dance of light on the water, bellied iron gratings on the Villa d’Este epitomise Italy at its best;
the light to exactly the intensity that loneliness and think sublime and directly below us. The scent of western shore in contrast with the windows, stone steps spiralling down rich in ancient lore and poetic lure of
suits reading or romance or a just a lofty thoughts. jasmine wafts across as we sit under high, shadowy hills opposite. The through shrubbery and boathouses its lyrical landscape. We find it the
plain old hangover. Each room, From the reception area you can the chestnut trees. The pianist plays ride will take us around the lake and tunnelled into the rock. The sun perfect finale to the perfect holiday in
singular in size, shape and decor has stroll out to a tree-shaded garden nostalgic old tunes and couples start back. fingers its way between clouds and Italy. op
162 Gulf Connoisseur October/November 2009 Gulf Connoisseur October/November 2009 163