Passalacqua Italy
Passalacqua
Via Besana 59, 22010 Moltrasio (Como), Italy
www.passalacqua.it
HOTEL INFORMATION
Group
N/A
Shareholders
Privately owned
Date of Creation
1787
Hotel General Manager
Silvio Vettorello-
Silvio boasts extraordinary experience in five-star hôtellerie, he started working in the most exclusive hotels in Italy and Switzerland- Splendido e Splendido Mare in Portofino, the Savoy and Four Seasons in Florence, Hotel Des
Bergues in Geneva where he looked after politicians from the United Nations, heads of state, royal families..
In 2011 Vettorello returned to Italy for the pre-opening and opening of the Armani Hotel Milano as a Lifestyle Manager. In 2013 he joined the Grand Hotel Tremezzo family as Life-Style Manager, Operations Manager and since 2018 as General Manager of Grand Hotel Tremezzo.
Hotel Positioning
5 star luxury
Preferred – Legend
Development Strategy
The family’s vision for Passalacqua is to create a magnificent, timeless dwelling for travelers who wish to experience the unique charm of « vivere Italiano. » They are guardians of this extraordinary property and they have an ambition to give life to a new Lake Como icon that honours the past but is relevant for the centuries ahead. Guests will be treated to a fresh take on a classic Italian retreat, or ‘villeggiatura,’ as they bring this historic mansion back to its former grandeur.
PASSALACQUA
History & Story
This is the story about an extraordinary villa on the edge of Lake Como, standing above the village of Moltrasio, leading all the way down to the lake’s shore. This historic mansion has played host to some of the world’s most brilliant minds in music, literature, art and politics from Napoleon Bonaparte to Bellini to Winston Churchill.
Built on land originally owned by Pope Innocent XI, Villa Passalacqua was constructed in the 18th Century by Count Andrea Lucini Passalacqua, who brought his vision of making one of the largest and most spectacular villas on Lake Como come to life.
In the years that followed, the villa became a gathering place for some of Italy’s most prominent figures. Vincenzo Bellini made Villa Passalacqua his home in 1829, composing two of his most famous operas, Norma and Sonnambula. Nowadays Passalacqua has become the latest passion project for one of Italy’s most well-known hotelier families – Paolo, Antonella and Valentina De Santis. Sister property to the lake’s Grand Hotel Tremezzo – one of the world’s most iconic hotels – it will offer total privacy and magnificence as it opens its doors to guests in June 2022.
Date Renewal
After 3 years of renovation Passalacqua will re-open its doors on June 3rd 2022
Main Strengths, Special Touch
Nowadays Passalacqua has become the latest passion project for one of Italy’s most well-known hotelier families – Paolo, Antonella and Valentina De Santis. Sister property to the lake’s Grand Hotel Tremezzo – one of the world’s most iconic hotels – Passalacqua will offer the highest level of service and seven-acre terraced grounds for just 24 accommodations all furnished uniquely to make every guest feel home.
This family, rooted to Lake Como for generations, is bringing this mansion and its secular park back to life with love, respect and thoughtfulness recreating the vintage spirit of Passalacqua in all of its being.
The hotel is just 10 minute away from Como town and very close to Milan airports and it will have the longest season on Lake Como including Christmas holidays.
Passalacqua design is a tribute to Italianity: the owners have worked tirelessly with local artisans and small generations-old Italian companies to ensure that a sense of place, heritage and high quality craftsmanship resonated throughout the property.
Location
The Hotel stands above the lakeside village of Moltrasio that spills down from the slopes of Mount Bisbino to the water’s northern shore in a jumble of elegant residences, humble cottages and ancient roads that have miraculously stood the test of time – every bit as stunning as the “vertical towns” of Amalfi Coast or Cinque Terre. Aqua e pietra, the locals say, have made Moltrasio what it is today. Aqua, as in the lovely lake in every picture-postcard view and the mountain streams that create picturesque waterfalls and hydropower for the flour mills or olive oil presses of the past. Pietra, as in pietra moltrasina, that you find in everything from the well-trodden Scala Santa path along our eastern wall to the ornate artistic flourishes of villas like our own. Two elements that are resilient, hard-working and capable of great beauty.
Closest Private Jet Airport is Milano Malpensa (MXP)
Key sites/activities in the area
Every kind of lifestyle experience will be available. Couples can take romantic strolls through the rose garden or antique orchard, and groups of friends and families can cool off in the stunning swimming pool or improve their backhand at the lakeside tennis court. Additional features that will highlight the natural beauty of the villa will include an open-air gym located in the olive grove, as well outdoor spa treatments, sunrise yoga, and movie nights under the stars. Of course, no Lake Como residence would be complete without access to the lake, and Passalacqua has it covered with accommodations fit for the A-list crowd. The private villa will offer guests access to a private dock on the lake, complete with a selection of vintage boats you can choose from to sail through Lake Como in style.
Fun Facts
All the accommodations housed in the main residence La Villa bear the women’s names who have been part somehow of Bellini’s life or have been included in their operas and the guests will be fascinating by the secrets behind their incredible stories.
Children’s Corner
Passalacqua is a great place for families as we have plenty of things for children to do and every guest is truly important to us. We offer a complete range of nice amenities including a dedicated check in, a children welcome kit and some dedicated activities such as kids cooking classes, mountain biking, pic-nic in the gardens with the Passalacqua’s mascotte, kids water sports, tennis & bocce lessons and much more to discover.
HOTEL FEATURES
Accommodation
• Number of suites: 9 exclusive suites all with an amazing lake view; the minimum size of this category room is about 60 square meters. The Suite Bellini is the largest suite available on Lake Como’s shores including the music room with a double height vaulted ceilings where Bellini used to play piano and a five metre Murano chandelier exclusively designed for Passalacqua by Barovier&Toso
• Number of Luxury rooms: 15 unique accommodations
• Number of rooms, (keys) in all: 24 accommodations in total that are housed in three different buildings: the grand Villa, the historical Pus Palazz and the romantic Casa al Lago, nestled in the lush gardens. Every room and suite has a spacious bathroom with a bath tub and a separate walking shower.
At Passalacqua, we curate every single detail from the heart, with one eye on our rich
heritage and the other focused on the future, creating new, authentic memories that
connect us with our shared past. Every single aspect of the property’s interiors has been personally overseen and curated with no one suite being the same.
Restaurants & Bars
Our unique approach to dining invites guests to enjoy Italian delicacies when, where and just the way they like: choose from a variety of relaxed dining spaces indoors and out, find a farm-to table tasting or cooking experience to try, drop by and see what the team is up to in our open, all-day kitchens, help yourself to a jar of old-timey sweets – the possibilities are endless…
For Viviana cooking is synonymous with life; it requires passion, commitment, creativity, dedication, and humility. All qualities that the Michelin-star chef – born in Salerno in 1974 – has shown since, as a child, she started cooking in the family’s fish restaurant. Her personal and professional path led her to leave Campania to grow, learn and perfect her profession skills in top restaurants (including Maestro Gualtiero Marchesi’s L’Albereta, El Celler De Can Roca in Girona, Albert Adrià’s Enigma in Barcelona, Angel Leon’s Aponiente in Cadiz, and Christian Puglisi’s Relae) until she opened her first restaurant, Il Girasole in Orio Litta (in the Lodigiano area) in 1999. Meeting Sandra Ciciriello led to opening Alice Ristorante in Milan in 2007, and to being awarded their first Michelin Star. In 2011, the restaurant transferred to Eataly Smeraldo in Milan. Alice’s evolution aims high. Viviana never stops experimenting novel culinary methods and techniques, constantly searching for highquality produce. Her dishes unlock the flavours of seafoods and meats, combining first-rate ingredients that appeal to the eye and the palate. A perfect harmony of seasonal flavours and modern culinary technology, which has contributed to the success of Alice Ristorante. As a result, in February 2015 it became a member of the Associazione Le Soste then, in May, Viviana was nominated chef Ambassador to Expo Milano 2015.
In 2019 Alice Ristorante became VIVA Viviana Varese. Viviana Varese is part of the Ambasciatori del Gusto, of Euro-Toques Italia and is reported among 50Best Discovery. The company Alicette Srl has Viviana Varese in partnership with Riga Foods Srl (20%) and Zahie Tellez (20%), renowned Mexican chef from television. Riga Food Srl is the company of the Indian chef Ritu Dalmia, partner of Viviana in various international projects and events and in Milan owner of Cittamani restaurant, and the entrepreneur Analjit Singh – Leeu Collection, one of the best-known hotel groups.
In June 2021 Viviana Varese opens W Villadorata Country Restaurant at the Villadorata Country House in Noto in Sicily.
In July 2021 she is among the winners of « Champions of Change », presented in collaboration with S.Pellegrino, recognizes and celebrates those who have used this difficult period to promote significant actions within their community, a special prize that precedes the event The World’s 50 Best Restaurants 2021.
In February 2022 Viviana Varese opens Io sono VIVA Dolci e Gelati, a format of artisanal ice cream and small patisserie in Milan with an all-female team selected in collaboration with CADMI, www.cadmi.org, an anti-violence centre for women.
The goal of the project is to restore dignity and economic independence through work.
In 2023 in Noto the Sicilian project becomes bigger and Viviana varese with Ida Brenna and Matteo Carnaghi executive Chefs for the two restaurant in Sicily partners in a new company Vim group srl, open a bistrot in city center in a historic building: VIVA Il Bistrot with a Mediterranean menu, Slow Food Presidium, dishes to share.
In September 2023 Viviana Varese opens POLPO, Semplicemente Pesce by SPICA, bar trattoria. POLPO takes the place of Spica, a fusion cuisine project that star chef Viviana Varese had undertaken with her partner and Indian chef Ritu Dalmia, and which now sees its own design continuity with a trattoria bar with a modern character and well integrated into one of Milan’s most popular and lively streets, Via Melzo. It is within those walls that POLPO presents a new dimension, transforming the famous “Milanese” street into a lively and gourmand promenade with with tapas for aperitif and a dinner menu all with dishes with fish and vegetables.
In March 2024 Viviana Varese starts a new project in Passalacqua
Viviana Varese’s creativity will be felt in every nuance in Passalacqua: her cuisine will be available on every occasion and moment of the day, to offer an experience in harmony with the atmosphere suspended in time of this place and to transform every moment into joy pure. It will be a culinary proposal which, thanks to the starred chef, born on the Amalfi Coast and raised in the North, wishes to represent the maximum and complete expression of Italian haute cuisine.
Viviana Varese’s latest project in chronological order is FAAK Food and wine with natural rebellion which opened in Milan in the Scalo Farini area in April, a place with different souls, from morning to evening, where the grill, the oven, the wine are the protagonists, from breakfast to dinner.
Wellness
Our lavish wellness program is designed to restore the mind, body and soul. We offer relaxation and treatment rooms in the Pus Palazz, with rituals inspired by the lake’s magic and the products of renowned wellness doctor Barbara Sturm. A secret staircase leads to a one-of-a-kind spa experience in the Turkish bath and sauna housed our 18th-century underground tunnel. There will be also an open-air gym located in an olive grove and we will offer yoga at sunrise every morning in the rose garden.
Corporate & Celebration Events
To maintain the exclusivity and that sense of place and not ruin the atmosphere and the original spirit of Passalacqua the property will be available for individual stays only.
Extra Notable Features
A place of wonder created from the heart,
A celebration of lake and life.
Hotel and restaurant Awards
2024
- European Textile & Craft Award
- Top 100 Suites – Elite Traveler per Suite Bellini
- 2024 Kiwi Collection Hotel Awards – Best Boutique Hotel
- The 50 Greatest Luxury Hotel Suites in the World – Robb Report
- 1 Chiave Michelin nella Guida Michelin
- Nomination for Virtuoso’s Global Awards 2024
- Condé Nast Traveler Readers’ Choice Awards n.17 in Italy category
- N.2 50 Best Hotels in the World / n.1 50 Best Hotels in Europe
- GOLOSARIA – riconoscimento speciale per i migliori pranzi dell’anno, categoria “i nuovi ristoranti, le migliori tavole”
- Nomination for reddit Top 50 List
2023
- Andrew Harper Editors’ Choice Award for ”Hideaway of the Year”!
- Valentina “Hotelier dell’anno”. Premio Cipollini (Duco)
- Valentina “Best Hotelier” Travel Guide Tatler UK
- 2023 Town & Country Hotel Awards
- Condé Nast Traveller’s 2023 Hot List
- Travel + Leisure: IT List
- AFAR’s 2023 Stay List
- Travel + Leisure: 100 Best New Hotel in The World -74/100
- Travel + Leisure: The 12 most over the top new hotels in the world – 2/12
- Elite Travel Top 100 Suites – Suite Bellini
- Tatler Travel Guide – The 101 best Hotels in the world
- Luxury Travel Advisor’s 2023 Awards of Excellence – Top Luxury Hotel Opening of 2022
- World’s 50 Best Hotels
- 1000 Best Hotel’ awards – La Liste
- Robb Report’s 50 Greatest Luxury Hotels
- AHEAD Awards 2023 – Landscaping & Outdoor Spaces Award
- Prix Versailles 2023 – Special prize for an Interior 2023 for Europe (Hotels category)
Number of employees
100