Grand Hotel Villa Serbelloni

Bellagio sits at the most theatrical point on Lake Como — the tip of the promontory where the lake splits into two arms — and the Villa Serbelloni has commanded that view since it became a hotel in 1873. The villa itself is older, built as an aristocratic lakeside retreat in the mid-nineteenth century, and it remains in the hands of the Bucher family, who have run it for generations with a courtliness that corporate flags rarely match.

The interiors are unapologetically opulent: frescoed ceilings, chandeliers and acres of silk in salons that still host after-dinner dancing to a live orchestra in season. Gardens spread along the water's edge with a lakeside pool, private lido and a second indoor pool for cooler months, while the town's famous stepped lanes begin just outside the gates.

Gastronomy is a point of pride — the elegant Mistral restaurant carries a long fine-dining pedigree — and breakfast on the lakefront terrace is among Como's great morning rituals. Ferries fan out from Bellagio's pier to Tremezzo, Varenna and the villas of the shore, making this the most connected base on the lake. Old-fashioned in the best sense, the Serbelloni is Como's living link to the Grand Tour.