Passalacqua
The 18th-century villa where Bellini wrote Norma, reopened in 2022 as a 24-suite house and named the world's best hotel in its first year
The Privata Perspective
The most talked-about opening on the lake in a generation, and it earned it. Villa Passalacqua was built in 1787 for Count Andrea Lucini Passalacqua on the terraced slope above Moltrasio, and spent two centuries as one of Como's great private houses — Vincenzo Bellini composed Norma and La Sonnambula here in 1829. The De Santis family, who also own Grand Hotel Tremezzo along the shore, bought it in 2018 and spent four years on the restoration. It opened in June 2022 and was named No. 1 in the inaugural World's 50 Best Hotels ranking the following year.
Twenty-four suites, across three buildings. Twelve are in the villa itself, under frescoes and stuccowork; eight are in the Palazz, the old stables, with exposed beams and hand-painted walls; four are in Casa al Lago at the water, each with its own garden. The gardens climb the hillside in terraces of cypress, mosaic and citrus, and the pool sits among them looking down the lake.
What makes it work is the scale. At that size the place runs like a private house rather than a hotel — you eat what the kitchen is cooking, you are welcome in the kitchen while they cook it, and the staff know your name by the first evening. It is also the hardest room on the lake to get, which is the one practical thing worth knowing: ask early.
Accommodations
Room or Junior Suite in the Villa
12 rooms in the main house
The 18th-century rooms — stuccowork, frescoes, antiques and the lake through tall windows. The lake-view category is worth the difference here
The named suites
Bellini, Norma, Agnese
The grand rooms of the villa. Bellini composed here in 1829 and the best of them carries his name — double-height ceilings and its own Sala della Musica
Room or Suite in the Palazz
8 suites in the former stables
Exposed beams and hand-painted walls, a shade more relaxed than the villa and quieter at night
Casa al Lago
4 suites at the water
The building down at lake level, each suite with its own private garden — the closest you can sleep to the water here
Dining
Sala da Pranzo
Italian
The dining room in the villa. There is no printed menu in the usual sense — the kitchen cooks to the day and the season, and guests are welcome to wander in while they do it
The terrace & garden
Italian
Breakfast and lunch move outside to the terraces above the lake, which is where most of the day's eating happens between April and October
Bar in the Villa
Aperitivo
A proper house bar rather than a hotel one — small, panelled, and the natural gathering point before dinner
Spa & Wellness
The pool sits on the hillside among the terraced gardens rather than down at the water, so you swim looking along the lake. There is a spa in the villa, a bocce court, a kitchen garden and an ancient fruit garden that supplies the kitchen. The gardens themselves — three terraces of cypress, citrus and mosaic climbing the slope above Moltrasio — are the property's real wellness offering, and the reason to allow a whole afternoon at the hotel. Passalacqua's boat runs the shore to Bellagio, Villa del Balbianello and the garden villas.
When to Go
April–June
The gardens at their best and the lake still quiet — our first choice, and the hardest to book
July–August
Hot and glamorous; 24 suites means it never feels crowded, but it does sell out furthest ahead
September–October
Warm water, softer light, the summer crowds gone. Closes for winter
Book With Preferred Access
Experience Passalacqua with Via Privata
Complimentary upgrades, resort credits, early check-in, and dedicated concierge support — available exclusively through our preferred partner programme.
Enquire Now