Casa Olea Hotel

Style

Sacred geometry

Setting

Cusp of Lake Como

Casa Olea, a former 18th-century vicarage turned boutique hotel on the bank of Lake Como, has such austere design (hunks of stone, brushed concrete, wood flooring, bare-necessity furnishings), that rooms and suites resemble extremely chic monastic cells. But, in the big picture, the villa moves beyond building and into sculpture: vaults coarse with ancient brick, a modern steel staircase snaking around a nevera (an ancient fridge) beaded with cobbles, massive beams shouldering huge glass-walled antechambers and ceilings with weathered struts. It has the spatial awareness of a Richard Serra piece with the odd colourful eye-catcher or creeping plant. And, of course, the only feature to really focus on: those views.

Facilities

Rooms

13, including five suites.

Checkout

8am to 11am. Check-in, 3pm to 9pm.

More Details

Rates usually include a lavish breakfast spread.

Also

The historic layout and modern staircase mean the hotel’s not suited to guests with mobility issues.

Hotel Closed

The hotel’s summer season runs from 1 April to 30 October.

Free Internet Access

Pet Friendly

Pool

Spa

At the Hotel

Spa with a sauna, lake-view terrace, garden, small courtyard, free WiFi. In rooms: TV, Illy coffee machine, tea-making kit, air-conditioning, linens from Society Limonta and Comfort Zone bath products.

Our Favourite Rooms

There’s a monastic austerity to the minimalist rooms, but this is due to the reverence for the view. It’s worth every Euro, so by any means find yourself in a suite with a terrace. Your eyes will thank us.

Poolside

When excavations began for adding the pool to the property they encountered a typically Italian problem when they stumbled upon a Neolithic necropolis (circa 2000 BC) and the remains of a Roman villa. Apparently this didn’t impede work too much because the hotel has a blue-tourmaline gem of a pool, from which you can rest up and admire San Vito’s historic belltower and the backdrop of mountain and lake in between doggy paddles. Pairs of sunloungers are laid out on a wooden deck.

Spa

There’s a small soaking pool in the chestnut-wood-lined spa with a submerged bench where a waterfall and hydromassage jets will gently pummel you – plus picture windows with lake views to zone out to. After, take yourself on a thermal rollercoaster ride with a spin through the sauna, ice-cascade and emotional showers. The space must be booked exclusively; up to four guests can be pampered at a time for an hour (€45 for a couple, €55 for three people and €65 for four).

Packing Tips

Those who live and holiday near the villa have strong swimwear game, so suit up in style: men, tailor those trunks; and women, if you’ve been wondering where to wear that piece with the impractical cut-outs, perilous gusset or unnecessary accoutrements, it’s their time to shine.

Also

Olive trees stand proudly all around (in fact, the hotel’s name means ‘house of the olive tree’), but the garden has a fragrant medley of flowers and plants too, scenting your lakeside reveries with jasmine, wisteria, roses and blue verbena.

Children

Older, swim-confident kids will find more to do here, but kids are welcome. Babysitting can be arranged (at booking or at least five days in advance) for €15 an hour.

Gallery

Food & Drink

Top Table

Stretch out on a sunlounger by the pool for drinks, they offer the best vantage point for lake ogling. If you have a terrace, count your blessings and enjoy a glass or two there.

Dress Code

Couch-potato contes and contessas.

Hotel Restaurant

Breakfast is the main (and only) event here, so the owners put on quite the show, loading up the table in the vaults with fruit, yoghurts, pastries, cakes, breads, pancakes, Italian cheeses and meats, and eggs all ways, pus hot drinks and organic juices. With the rare exception, all ingredients are sourced from local farms.

Hotel Bar

There’s no fixed bar, drinks are ferried out to lounging areas poolside, the garden or leafy courtyard. Italian wines of all hues take precedence – as they should – but staff will whip you up a pre- or post-dinner cocktail if you wish.

Last Orders

Breakfast is served from 8am to 10am. Drinks flow from 11am to 8pm.

Room Service

Breakfast is taken in the taverna, but drinks can be ordered to your room if you need an Aperol fix.

Planes

Milan’s two airports are both a two-hour drive away. Linate has direct routes from all over Europe, while Malpensa serves as a more global hub. The hotel can arrange transfers for two in a car or up to six members of the same family in a minivan (prices vary). Book seven or more days in advance.

Trains

Frustratingly, the RE8 and R13 lines run down the eastern bank of the lake, on the opposite side. But, Colico is just a 30-minute drive away, and a scenic one at that (the hotel can pick you up from €90 one-way). The RE8 runs all the way from Milan to Tirano via Lecco and the length of Lake Como, while the R13 runs a shorter route from Lecco.

Automobiles

Speedboats will only get you so far – there’s much to discover around Lake Como’s periphery, and not much in the way of public transport. Hop around historic villages and glamorous lacustrian towns, head up to mountain-top viewing points and take a look-see at Lombardy’s other great lakes: Lugano, Maggiore, Garda, Iseo. There’s charging points for electric cars and secure parking in the hotel garage (€10 a day, book a space in advance); you’ll get your own key-card on arrival.

Worth Getting Out of Bed For

From above, Lake Como’s long slender form looks a little like a dancer in the throes of a tour jeté – and Casa Olea sits proudly on its chest. Your trip will largely be spent looking out over the water and sighing like an unrequited lover from the 18th century – but you might also go kitesurfing, windsurfing or zipping across its surface in a vintage Riva speedboat or going full keel in a sloop. (The beach just in front of the hotel has a kitesurfing school and equipment hire). The great, good, rich, famous and beautiful have built up the banks in picturesque style, whether it’s ancient hideaways (various Roman philosophers had holiday homes here), mediaeval villages with all their antiquated charms intact, or poetic neoclassical villas for Grand Tour goers. Villa del Balbianello has the most credits to its name, having starred in Casino Royale and Star Wars: Episode II Attack of the Clones, but you can swan around several like you own them (we wish): former nunnery Villa Monastero with its vividly hued botanical gardens; 17th-century wedding-cake of a house and sculpture gallery Villa Carlotta; and Villa Melzi with its leafy surrounds of many colours. Corenno Plinio, across the way from the hotel, has churches, frescoes and castle walls that tell a tale of many ages, sherbet-hued Bellagio cascades like a rainbow down a hillside, and Varenna’s bright villas are laid out like a higgledy-piggledy spice rack, while Tremezzo is a leafier enclave, and Lecco – settled amid towering peaks – dates back to the 5th century and offers skiing, cycling, hiking, history and alpine cheeses and charcuterie by the platterload. Climb the hill behind the hotel and you’ll be rewarded with spectacular views at the top, or cross the water to the Orrido di Bellano viewing bridge, which overlooks a 15-million-year-old gorge and waterfall. Tour Lombardy’s great (and lesser) lakes with trips out to Lake Garda or Lake Maggiore, and pair your break with a spell in Italy’s fashion-plate city Milan, just a two-hour drive away.

Earn or Redeem Points with World of Hyatt

This Mr & Mrs Smith hotel participates in the World of Hyatt loyalty program. As a member, you can earn and redeem points and enjoy exclusive benefits for qualifying nights. .