3 Best Hotels in Gargnano, Lombardy and the Lakes

The small rooms at this cozy main-street inn—where breakfast is served on an elegant lake-view terrace—have attractive Venetian-style furnishings and pastel color schemes. From here it's only a short walk to Gargnano's main piazza.

The first thing you’ll notice about this elegant resort in the hills above Gargnano are the stupendous lake and mountain views; the second thing will be its enormous spa, which is so filled with amenities (heated indoor-outdoor pool, saunas, well-equipped lake-view gym, extensive treatment menu) that you might just want to stay all day—and some guests do. The large rooms are modern and airy, and all afford panoramic views from their private terrace or balcony.

This 1892 Art Nouveau villa hotel, named for the Italian publishing family who once vacationed here, has attracted the likes of Winston Churchill, D.H. Lawrence, and Benito Mussolini to its private lake-view gardens; extensive library; sumptuous and palatial rooms (as befits the final bill); and overall opulent interior of fresco ceilings, wood paneling, and antique ceramics. If you can afford it, take the tower room or one of the independent guesthouses.