Villa d’Este, originally Villa del Garovo, is a Renaissance patrician residence in Cernobbio on the shores of Lake Como, northern Italy.

Owners, history, exterior & interior design

Villa d’Este is considered one of the most beautiful architectural works of the sixteenth century. Built in 1568 as the summer residence of Cardinal Tolomeo Gallio, who comissioned it to Pellegrino Pellegrini  called “Il Tibaldi”, famous architect of the time. It is surrounded by a private park with centennial plants where you can admire the iconic Mosaic by Pellegrino Pellegrini, the Hercules Fountain and the Telemachus Statue. In its halls you can admire fascinating works of art including some from the French school, others from the Canova school and decorations by Andrea Appiani.

Both the villa and the 25-acre (100,000 m2) park which surrounds it have undergone significant changes since their sixteenth-century origins. Nevertheless, visiting the garden in 1903 for Century Magazine, Edith Wharton found this to be ‘the only old garden on Como which keeps more than a fragment of its original architecture’, and noted that ‘though Queen Caroline anglicised part of the grounds, the main lines of the Renaissance  garden still exist.

Today, it is a different, more diverse clientele who teeter in on heels across the gravel pathways to take their photographs against the great Renaissance mosaic. All is luxe, calm and voluptuous, at the rhythm of a place that is both relevant and the very definition of “out of this world”.

With increased privacy, security and space to accommodate multi-generational groups – think the conversion of four existing historic buildings in the 25-acre park into private villas, with enclosed gardens, dining rooms and high-tech gyms. Mosaic House, the most romantic  is located right into the nymphaeum where a hidden door leads through a secret courtyard into a bool-lined apartment, complete with a terrace overlooking the lake.

The estate continues to be the ultimate wedding destination in Italy, with the recent opening of its private 6-bedroom Villa Garrovo, tucked away in the estate’s hanging gardens, and the ever-growing popularity of its Mid-Summer party, when the gardens along the lake come alive with music, dancing and fireworks.

Getting to Villa d’Este

Villa d’Este has a small helipad for helicopter landing.

Villa d’Este has a pier for private boats’ arrival. Private boats can also be booked through our Concierge. Alternatively, you can take the ferry or hydrofoil and reach the pier of Cernobbio, within a 5-minute walk from the hotel. If you have luggage you can call a taxi or book a private transfer.

Restaurants & dining options for guests

Dining options are available throughout the day and the evening just about anywhere on the premises. World class dinning at the restaurant Veranda, traditional Italian cuisine at the Grill, outdoor and cozy dinning at Il Platano. Executive Chef: Michele Zambanini.

Cuisine for weddings & events

Wedding banquets are prepared by the Executive Chef and are completely customizable. An ideal wedding flow would be ceremony in the gardens, facing the iconic Mosaic, followed by a cocktail at the Lake terrace, a dinner reception indoors, and a cake moment with fireworks.

Accomodation/facilities

Villa d’Este offers accommodation in its 152 luxury rooms with breathtaking park or lake views. The 152 rooms of Villa d’Este are located both in the Cardinal Building (125 rooms) and the Queen’s Pavilion (27 rooms). Each one with its own style and colours, always in the name of comfort, is elegantly furnished with antique furniture, paintings and prints, silks, precious velvets and luxurious marble bathrooms. From your guestroom you can admire magnificent views of Lake Como and of the gardens surrounding the Hotel. Some guestrooms offer balconies for an al fresco view. There are also 4 more Private Villas that can accommodate 30 guests.

Types of ceremonies & receptions

Symbolic ceremonies can be performed on Villa d’ Este’s premises. Villa d’Este can host up to 200 guests. It is perfect for lavish weddings and big productions, but it is also a great venue for luxury intimate weddings.

Entertainment & music

The wedding party can continue until 2:30 a.m. at the gentleman-style disco d’ Este Club. During summer, every evening guests can enjoy the piano bar in the Lake terrace or at the Canova Bar.

Included services

At Villa d’ Este guests can enjoy the High-tech gym & SPA, Hair Salon services, Luxury Boutiques and a Private Disco.

Opening period

Villa d’Este is open from March until November.

Celebrities weddings & famous guests

Villa d’ Este’s premises often make headlines on the world’s top celebrity & high fashion magazines, such as Vogue, Harper’s Bazaar and other esteemed press.

Following the success of 1946 film noir Gilda, Hollywood’s most glamorous actress, Rita Hayworth, headed to Lake Como to escape the paparazzi with her husband, the maverick actor and director Orson Welles. It was here, at the elegant time capsule retreat that is Villa d’ Este, that they found inspiration for their next project, The Lady of Shanghai. When they wanted to escape the pressures of work, the couple would go for day trips on a Riva yacht around the 30mile-wide Lake Como, which reflects the snow-capped peaks of the Italian Alps on its emerald-tinted glacial waters.

Villa d’Este has attracted heads of states, writers, artists, while Elton John got his private chef to take cooking lessons in the hotel’s kitchens.

Villa d’ Este is a destination so famously sumptuous that even in its own time the Sultan of Morocco made a special visit to indulge in its splendors. Caroline Brunswick, the future Queen of England, named the villa “her little nutshell”.

Emily Blunt and John Krasinski: The Office star and his wife got married in a private outdoor ceremony at the Villa d’Este in July 2010. George Clooney and his then-girlfriend Elisabetta Canalis were among the guests in attendance.

Tamara Ecclestone treated her husband Jay Rutland to a fabulous 34th birthday trip at Villa d’ Este.

George & Amal Clooney often dine at Villa d’ Este’s restaurants while earlier in May 2019 Leonardo DiCaprio swapped Hollywood for a holiday when he joined Camila Morrone and his mum Irmelin Indenbirken at Villa D’Este for a weekend break.