One of the world's most celebrated hotels, Villa d'Este occupies a 25-acre park on Lake Como's western shore at Cernobbio. The Renaissance villa was built between 1565 and 1570 for Cardinal Tolomeo Gallio, designed by Pellegrino Pellegrini (known as "Il Tibaldi") as a summer residence and gathering place for literati, musicians, and artists. The cardinal named it Villa del Garovo after the nearby stream. Its classical proportions, marble columns, and frescoed salons set the standard for Lake Como aristocratic architecture. In 1815, the estranged wife of Britain's future King George IV, Caroline of Brunswick, purchased the villa and renamed it "New Villa d'Este" (later simply Villa d'Este), landscaping the park in the English style. The property was converted into a luxury hotel in 1873, becoming a destination for European aristocracy and, later, Hollywood celebrities.
 
Interesting facts...
 Caroline of Brunswick was so unpopular that when she became Queen of England in 1820, she was barred from Westminster Abbey for her coronation; she died three weeks later. The Queen's Pavilion, a trompe l'oeil folly, was built in her honour in 1856. The hotel's floating swimming pool, built in 1890, is the only one of its kind on Lake Como, a freshwater pool that rises and falls with the lake level.
 
Villa d'Este has hosted the Concorso d'Eleganza classic car show annually since 2005, one of the world's most prestigious automotive events. The gardens contain a 500-year-old plane tree, the Temple of Telemachus, Hercules' perspective, and the iconic Mosaic fountain, so worth a look. The hotel has 152 rooms and suites, none identical in size, décor, or colour. Empress Maria Feodorovna of Russia (widow of Tsar Nicholas I) stayed here in 1868. The villa remained in the Gallio family for over 200 years before passing through various owners including Count Domenico Pino (Napoleonic general) and Prince Torlonia.
 
Location: Via Regina 40, Cernobbio, Lake Como, Italy