Lake Como · The pairing
Two honeymoons,
one lake
Two nights in an 18th-century villa. A ten-minute private boat across the water. Two nights in the most modern hotel on the lake. Same couple, two completely different stays.
Lake Como · The pairing
Two nights in an 18th-century villa. A ten-minute private boat across the water. Two nights in the most modern hotel on the lake. Same couple, two completely different stays.
Most people pick one Lake Como hotel and spend the whole trip there. The better move is to pick two that have nothing in common.
Passalacqua is the villa you’ve seen everywhere: an 18th-century estate in Moltrasio, restored room by room, with silk on the walls, gilded headboards and gardens stepping down to the water. Il Sereno sits almost directly across the lake in Torno, and it’s the opposite in every way: glass, walnut and stone, every room facing the lake, and a heated pool just above the water. It’s quiet, private and built for couples.
Two hotels that look nothing alike, but the same kind of person loves both. If you’re planning a honeymoon or a milestone trip, that’s probably you. The part that ties it together is the ten-minute private boat between them, which is also the best part of the trip.
The villa. Whimsical, and unlike anywhere else in the world.
Built in 1787 and opened as a hotel in 2022, it was named the world’s best hotel within a year. The idea is that it’s your home: it’s filled with antiques the family collected over time and lots of wicker, and only hotel guests can use the restaurants and spa, so it feels truly exclusive. It’s peaceful and calm, and Moltrasio is a quiet village with no tourists.
Only guests get in. No outside visitors for dining or the spa, and only 24 rooms. It’s a true couple’s retreat.
The spa and the tunnel. A Moroccan-inspired spa with vaulted ceilings, brass lanterns and peacock wicker chairs, and an underground tunnel down to the lower gardens. I loved it.
One of the world’s most iconic tennis courts. Clay, terraced above the lake and framed by cypress.
Book a lakeside room or the Palazzo. Those rooms are generously sized; others can be small. It’s a terraced garden property, so most rooms see the lake in the distance. The Junior Suite Al Lago is the one I show couples first.
Plan a few dinners out. There are only two restaurants, so go across the lake by boat some nights. I’ll set it up.
No car, no switchbacks, no hour on the lake road. You leave one hotel from the water and arrive at the next one the same way.
My favorite trick: don’t take the short way. Have the boat go north first, past Villa del Balbianello and Bellagio, then drop you at Il Sereno. Your transfer becomes your boat day, and the check-out day turns into the best afternoon of the trip.
The modern one, and the best true lakefront hotel on Lake Como. Every room looks at the water.
I’ve stayed here, and I couldn’t find a single fault. Patricia Urquiola’s design has a Japanese-minimalist, warm-industrial feel, all glass, walnut and stone. There’s a listening suite that feels like a great hi-fi bar, and a Michelin-starred restaurant on the water. Torno is a tiny village, and you can only get into the hotel if you’re staying or you come by boat, so there are almost no day visitors. After two nights of gilt and frescoes, it feels like a completely different trip.
The pool is on land, and heated. A lot of Como pools float on docks and rock with every passing boat. This one doesn’t, and the poolside service is excellent.
The hot tub in the old boathouse. Book it just for the two of you, by the hour.
Every room sees the lake. Entry rooms get a partial view, some through the trees. The Grand Suite is where it gets special, and it starts at about what an entry room costs at Passalacqua.
Their own fleet of Rivas. The dock is the front door, and a boat to dinner across the lake is easy to arrange.
The sheets. The softest I’ve ever slept on. I’m still thinking about them.
Next time I’m going back for at least two nights and pairing it with Passalacqua. That’s this whole page.
The room
The bath
| Passalacqua | Il Sereno | |
|---|---|---|
| Built | A 1787 villa, opened as a hotel in 2022 | Built new, opened in 2016 |
| Shore | Moltrasio, west shore | Torno, east shore |
| Lake views | Mostly the lake in the distance, over the gardens | Every room, right on the water |
| The look | Silk walls, gilded headboards, frescoes, antiques, wicker | Glass, walnut and stone by Patricia Urquiola |
| The pool | Set in terraced gardens above the lake | Heated, just above the water, with a boathouse hot tub |
| The feeling | A guest at a private Italian estate | Private and quiet, with almost no day visitors |
Who it’s for: couples who want the famous villa and also want to feel like they went somewhere new halfway through. You get two honeymoons in one trip, and only one travel day.
The two-and-two version. For a honeymoon, I’d stretch it to three and three, which adds one full do-nothing day at each hotel.
You pay the same rate as booking direct, and you get two things on top: Fora perks at each hotel, typically a space-available upgrade, daily breakfast and a hotel credit, and someone who knows both hotels personally and personalizes your stay. I line up both check-ins with the boat in between so the move is easy.
With 24 rooms it’s the hardest confirmation on the lake, so we hold those dates first and build Il Sereno around them. For June or September, start the conversation as early as you can.
If your hotel is up in the middle of the lake, the boat is the better way in.
Grand Hotel Tremezzo, Villa Serbelloni in Bellagio and the Lake Como EDITION are all a long way up the lake from the town of Como. The road there is narrow and winding, and it takes 45 minutes to an hour. That’s a rough last stretch after an overnight flight.
So I split it in two. Your car from Milan, or wherever you’re coming from, drops you at the water in Como. A private boat is waiting, your bags go on board, and about 30 minutes later you step off at your hotel. On a honeymoon, that’s a much better first hour on Lake Como than the lake road.
About ten minutes. Passalacqua sits in Moltrasio on the west shore and Il Sereno in Torno on the east shore, almost directly across the water from each other. It is a private boat, booked for your time, with your bags on board.
Two and two is the minimum that still feels like two separate stays. Three and three is the version I’d book for a honeymoon, because it gives each hotel a full day where you don’t go anywhere at all.
I usually start at Passalacqua. It is the harder confirmation, so we lock those dates first and build Il Sereno around them, and the villa is the better place to land and slow down after a long flight. The reverse works too if the dates fall that way.
Yes, and I’d book it that way. A car brings you from Milan to the town of Como, and a private boat takes you up the lake from there. It’s about 30 minutes on the water, compared with 45 minutes to an hour on the lake road, and it works for Grand Hotel Tremezzo, Villa Serbelloni and the EDITION.
Not really. It’s built for couples who want privacy, lake views and design. Parents with older teenagers could make it work if the kids are happy by the pool, but for a family trip I’d point you somewhere else on the lake.
Torno is a tiny village, and that’s the point: nobody wanders into the hotel. If you want an evening out, Bellagio, Como and the restaurants across the lake are a short boat ride away, and I can line those boats up for you.
Il Sereno sets the window: it’s open from mid-March until October 26, then closes for winter. Passalacqua stays open later, through New Year’s, so it also works on its own for a holiday trip. For the pairing, May, June and September are the months I push hardest.
No. The rate is the same as booking direct, and my clients typically get preferred-partner extras on top, like a space-available upgrade, daily breakfast and a hotel credit. The boat and the timing between the two hotels are part of what I handle.
Tell me your dates and the occasion. I’ll check both hotels and come back with rooms, the split and the boat.
See my Lake Como proposal → The Fifteen, my honeymoon shortlist →