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t’s Lago di Como to you — and to George Clooney, and Sir Richard Branson, and all the other rich and famous foreigners who own vacation villas here — but for the wealthy aristocrats who retreated to the shores of the glacial lake in Roman times, it was “Lario.” A lavish all-suites hotel, Villa Làrio, takes inspiration from the original Latin name, and from the region’s long history as an elegant getaway for city-dwellers, and anyone else who can afford it.
Like the oldest villas on the lakeshore, Villa Làrio is grand and spacious, perched between the lake and the cliffs, surrounded by meticulously landscaped gardens and towering cedars. Three buildings — mini-villas, if you will — are tucked away on the property. Most guest suites are located in the largest of the three, Villa Bianca. There’s a pair of one-bedroom corner suites here, and a pair of Double Junior Suites with two bedrooms each. All have a romantic feel, with French doors or high arched windows facing the lake, but there’s a modern simplicity to the white and earth-toned decor. The two-bedroom suite in the clifftop Pavilion, in contrast, has more of an industrial -chic aesthetic, particularly in the striking living room on the lower level. The Pavilion features its own kitchen, terrace, and garden, ideal venues for savoring a cappuccino or aperitivo with enviable birds’-eye views of the lake. The coziest of the three villas is the adorable Garden Suite. Enveloped in greenery, it’s something like sleeping in a stylish Italian treehouse; as the name suggests, the suite comes with its own private garden.

Spectacular views of the lake are a given, of course. But Villa Làrio offers a couple of especially appealing vantage points from which to appreciate them — there’s the infinity pool, doubling as a giant mirror for the mountain silhouettes and fast-moving clouds above the lake, and a private dock that leads out onto the still surface of the water. From there, you could plunge into the water, or go for a spin on one of the hotel’s classic pontoons.