Mandarin Oriental, Lago di Como

Mandarin Oriental's Como outpost takes a different tack from the lake's ornate grande dames. Centred on Villa Roccabruna, a nineteenth-century villa above the water at Blevio on the lake's south-eastern shore, the resort spreads through a botanical park of mature magnolias, palms and camellias, its rooms and suites dispersed among several villas linked by garden paths. The atmosphere is of a private lakeside estate rather than a single monumental hotel.

Interiors favour the group's serene contemporary language—pale timber, soft greys, subtle Asian inflections—letting garden and water dominate. The show-stealer is the floating pool set directly on the lake, ringed by loungers at water level with the wooded far shore opposite; a full spa in its own pavilion extends the resort's wellness credentials with Mandarin Oriental's signature depth.

Dining runs from an ambitious Italian fine-dining room in the main villa to relaxed lakeside terraces built for long lunches. Blevio itself is tiny, which is the point: Como town's silk shops and the seaplane jetty are ten minutes by car or hotel boat, but the resort's gravity is inward, towards garden, water and quiet. For a modern, spa-led take on Lake Como, this is the front-runner.