Inside A 150-Year-Old Lake Como Luxury Hotel That’s Grander Than Ever
At Grand Hotel Villa Serbelloni, timeless elegance, lakefront views, and true privacy still exist—if you know where to look.
After renovations over the past two years, plus this year’s stunning redesign of its flagship fine dining restaurant, paired with the property’s new membership in the prestigious Relais & Chateaux association, the historic Lake Como icon has never been more ready for its closeup. If you don’t know the Grand Hotel Villa Serbelloni, it’s the most charming five-star luxury hotel on Lake Como. Operating under continuous ownership by one family for more than a century, the sprawling neo-classical resort in the medieval-era lakeside village of Bellagio captures the essence of classic Como luxury like no other property on the lake through the continuity of spirit at its heart.
Lake Como has been a Holy Grail travel destination for many Americans inspired by George Clooney’s villa, and the celebrity weddings like that of Chrissy Teigen and John Legend. But with this popularity, finding the best way to enjoy it authentically has never been more important. There are new luxury hotels opening at Lake Como every year to service the selfie seekers, but Serbelloni possesses a pedigree that is four generations in the making. Something about this place just feels like nowhere else.
The greatest hotels in the world are main characters in their own story rather than just backdrops. In these days of corporate hotel consolidation, this kind of individuality is harder and harder to find, but Serbelloni exudes it.
ENTERING THE VILLA
The hotel is on a promontory where two fingers of the lake meet, so the views are expansive. Getting there through the tiny streets of Bellagio, there are mere inches between your car windows and the shop windows you pass. Then, as you near a waterfront bustling with ferries, two black iron gates open and a guard ushers you in towards the main entrance.
The staff at Serbelloni are immediately warm and charming. They often work here for many years, some for their entire careers. Even with a November through April off-season closure, the hotel draws them back every season. After an espresso on the terrace against the jet lag, we were led through the 19th-century manse to the waterfront Helmut Newton suite. It’s the only suite with its own private entrance, so it’s also the one they use for celebrity visits. But anyone will enjoy the ability to walk directly from the suite to the pool, the spa, or the terrace bar at aperitivo hour.
The two-room suite is light-filled and dramatic, with tall windows, high ceilings, original furniture, and lake views bound only by the sky and the foothills of the Alps. Not only did Helmut Newton regularly stay in the suite, but he shot some of his archetypal photographs there––some of which are hanging on the suite’s walls. When I worked at the Chateau Marmont in Los Angeles, Newton and his wife, June, were regulars until his death there, and June for years beyond. So, getting to stay in a suite named for him had some extra resonance for me.
A FAMILY TRADITION
Maxim explored the rich history of the Grand Hotel Villa Serbelloni for its 150th anniversary in 2024, and since that piece was published, the renovations to guest rooms, the spa and indoor pools, and the fine dining Mistral restaurant have positioned the hotel ideally for its future.
I had the chance to sit down for a chat with Jan Bucher, the hotel’s dapper and energetic fourth-generation owner and General Manager. As we chat under the crystal chandeliers and ornately painted ceilings of the lobby, he explains his vision for the investments he’s made in updating the hotel over the past few years. He has a shrewd understanding of the competition from other top luxury properties on the lake, and even the new ones under construction. While he discusses major decisions with his father––who also lives on the property––he has the freedom to chart his own course. Among other things, that has meant making significant investments in the property to remain at the top of the ultra-luxe tier of Como, but in a way that doesn’t detract in any way from the idiosyncratic charms of the property.
EXPLORING BELLAGIO
Because Lake Como is so popular now, and the quaint villages around the lake are so busy with tourists in peak season, having a private lakefront campus lets you really take it all in, in peace. Strolling the paths that wind through its gardens and alongside the sea wall, we usually had the views entirely to ourselves. Whenever we left the property to explore, even just for a fine stroll through beautiful Bellagio, we were still always ready to get back to the tranquility of the hotel grounds.
Bellagio has been the center of lake life since the Middle Ages, so staying at its most storied hotel gives you a complete Como experience. While we enjoyed exploring the town of Varenna across the lake, crowded sidewalks and long ferry lines made us quickly yearn to get back on campus. As someone who always takes the day trip, were I to do it over I would skip it for more time at the Serbelloni.
That’s because, for me, the best way to appreciate the lake is just to watch it. The constant traffic of boats and ferries and the way the weather is always changing. It has a dynamism that makes you feel like you’re watching a show, which is only made better if you’re watching it from a chaise-longue with an Aperol Spritz in your hand. (Peering through a forest of phones in outstretched arms, not so much.)
And this is always true here, because even at full capacity, the hotel doesn’t feel overly crowded. Whether we were going to the outdoor pool, the indoor pool, the sauna and steam room, or to the sunset deck for an aperitivo at golden hour, it always felt lively without ever feeling packed. Even at breakfast, where there was certainly a crowd, you can dine on the quiet outdoor terrace if you prefer more silence.
BUON APPETITO A SERBELLONI
The aforementioned breakfast, served buffet-style in an ornate upstairs ballroom, is worth the flight to Italy. It feels like a room meant for royalty to waltz in, and every morning it’s filled with a bounty of more options than you can wrap your mind around. I ate a different breakfast every day, from fresh mozzarella balls on arugula, to eggs and bacon, to breads, cheeses and charcuterie, to yogurt with fruit and honey––always accompanied by multiple Cappuccini.
With its striped canvas and wood chairs and brass-rimmed café tables, La Goletta is the Italian poolside restaurant of your dreams. Casual in attire and atmosphere, the food is nevertheless polished, and the wine menu is thoughtful. House-made pastas, local fish, salads, and a few glasses of house wine were a twice-daily necessity. At lunch it offers a view of the pool and the lake beyond, and at night the glowing pool becomes a light feature framing the twinkling lights of the lake.
Aperitivo hour on the sunset deck overlooking the lake is breathtaking, and that’s not a word I often use. Extraordinary cocktails served with gratis appetizers by serious waiters in dinner jackets who could have stepped out of a scene here a century ago and you wouldn’t notice the difference. Verri’s Bar, tucked into a long arched room off the lobby, is a portal to the past with its leather club chairs and cigar smoke, but the skills of the career bartenders in cream-colored jackets are timeless, from classic Martinis to a modern mixology-inspired Gin & Tonic experience.
Mistral is the hotel’s fine dining restaurant, and it just reopened after a transformational remodel. Michelin-starred Executive Chef Ettore Bocchia is known for his Italian take on molecular gastronomy, and it’s at Mistral where this comes into full focus. In a chef’s tasting meal with wine pairings at a table overlooking the lake, we had an unforgettable meal that included a course of homemade tortellini filled with peacock. It’s an experience not to be missed if you visit the hotel.
ESSENTIAL OUTINGS
A ride in a wooden boat on Lake Como is the best possible reason to leave the hotel, if not the only. The captain picks you up at the private dock, and you get to see Como’s most beautiful villas the way they were meant to be seen––from the water they were built to face. The scale of the architecture reaches a pinnacle of beauty when viewed from that angle, at that distance. In my opinion, you can skip the ferry rides to nearby towns if you want, but don’t skip the boat tour.
The newly renovated spa and indoor pools are a perfect way to recharge with a swim, steam and sauna before Aperitivo hour. The outdoor pool is perfect in the warmer months, but in the fall and spring, the indoor pool is where you want to be.
FINAL THOUGHTS
Looking back on my trip, it’s the little moments I return to the most. Just sitting in a chaise and watching the lake traffic or splitting a burger with my wife and having a spritz with an espresso on the side. Swimming out to the diving platform in the lake to do a cannonball because my kids dared me to. Or dressing up for happy hour to watch the sunset with Negronis and small bites. Or just waking up in the morning and looking out through sheer white curtains at the silhouettes of mountains. There are so many little moments like this to be discovered there, and I will be sifting through them for years to come. Not every luxury hotel at this level allows these moments the breathing room that they need, but the Serbelloni knows that luxury is more of a dance than it is a show. It knows intuitively when to step forward, and when to step back. And that was the real magic of the hotel for me.
KEY DETAILS
Nightly rates begin at about 850 Euros in the low seasons (spring and fall), with higher rates and two-night minimum stays during the peak summer season. The hotel closes annually from mid-November to early April. Reservations can be made here.
A BONUS DAY TRIP IN MILAN
The Milan airport is closer to Lake Como than it is to the center of Milan, so you can visit Como without ever seeing the city if you choose. I wanted to experience Milan before heading back to the states, so we spent a final night in Italy’s fashion capital.
We stayed at the modern Me Milan Il Duca Hotel, part of the Spain-based Melia hotels. The property has a rooftop bar and restaurant with sweeping views of the city, so our eyes were able to take in more of Milan than our legs could. After walking to the Duomo and shopping in the historic Brera district, we finished up the night with a culinary change of pace at STK Steakhouse Milan, on the second floor of our hotel. A darkly cozy restaurant with high-backed booths and staffed with charming Milanese locals, it was a perfect place to tuck away for cocktails and a mix of Italian-inspired dishes like Wagyu Tagliatelle and more traditional steakhouse fare like a peppercorn-crusted prime ribeye. I would put it on my list for any return visits to Milan.
The next morning, after watching the sunrise mirror off the Milan skyscrapers, we headed to the airport. A final pro tip for anyone using the Milan’s Malpensa airport is that whatever time you think you’ll need getting there and through the airport to your gate, double it.