At a Glance

• Location: Moltrasio, Lake Como
• Number of Rooms: 24 rooms and suites
• Room Stayed: Room in the Villa with Lake View, Room 107
• Dates of Stay: July 2026
• Rates: From €1,100 per night during the winter months
• Value for Money: Mixed. The accommodation and facilities feel appropriately priced for a hotel of this standard, but several paid extras are difficult to justify.
• Best For: Travellers seeking an intimate villa experience rather than a large international resort.
• Would I Return? Yes, although I would be far more selective about the extras.

What It Does Well

• Intimate atmosphere that feel more like a private villa than a hotel
• Exceptional restoration and interior design, evident in the rooms, gardens and pool alike
• Genuine privacy and exclusivity
• Consistently good food

Areas for Improvement

• Inconsistent service and follow through
• Better management of the pool environment
• Greater attention to practical design
• Stronger execution of private dining
• More considered pricing of paid extras

First Impressions

Passalacqua really is as beautiful as people say. The villa is spectacular, the gardens are immaculate and the property has a softness and romance that few hotels achieve. With only 24 rooms, it feels more like staying in a private home than a conventional hotel.

The question is not whether Passalacqua is special. It clearly is. The question is whether every part of the experience lives up to its reputation and considerable price.

Passalacqua was named the World’s Best Hotel in 2023 before placing second in 2024 and fourth in 2025. That recognition inevitably raises expectations. When a property is positioned among the finest hotels in the world, operational details and service failures become much harder to overlook.

Setting

Passalacqua occupies an eighteenth century villa in Moltrasio, surrounded by terraced gardens that descend towards Lake Como. The estate feels grand yet self contained, with enough space and variety that leaving can seem unnecessary.

Unlike several of Lake Como’s best known hotels, Passalacqua is set back from the water rather than directly beside it. The elevated position provides beautiful views, while a private dock gives guests direct access to the lake.

The property is spread across the main Villa, the Palazz and Casa al Lago. We stayed in the Villa and would choose it again for its historic character and central position.

Arrival

We arrived by boat, and the hotel already knew what time to expect us. Despite that, nobody was waiting at the dock, and the buzzer meant to alert reception, which our driver used, went unanswered. We were forced to leave our luggage and make our own way to reception.

The team apologised at check in. Separately, women are presented with flowers on arrival, a charming touch, though it doesn't make up for the missed boat arrival, an unfortunate beginning for a hotel that places such emphasis on personal hospitality.

The Room

We stayed in the Eloisa room, a bright corner room that alone would be enough to bring me back. Windows on two sides, including in the wardrobe and bathroom, let in beautiful lake views and a freshness that made the historic interior feel luxurious rather than theatrical.

Passalacqua delivers its private villa concept particularly well in the accommodation. The room had genuine Italian character and felt like part of a carefully restored residence, not a new hotel attempting to reproduce an older style. On Lake Como, it is worth paying more for a view, and we would recommend doing so here.

The details were carefully considered. The bathroom included a Dyson hairdryer, Airstrait and Airwrap, and the coffee machine was one of the most elaborate I have seen in any hotel room. Robes, slippers and several amenities were familiar from sister property Grand Hotel Tremezzo, a nice point of consistency if you have stayed at both.

The minibar was included, although housekeeping had failed to replace a half consumed bottle of red wine left by a previous guest. This was an unpleasant oversight in an otherwise immaculate room.

Mints and a small cake were delivered each evening. The cake was an enjoyable and practical turndown gift, although receiving the same one every night became repetitive. The Bellini Suite offers an additional sense of occasion, with a piano in its living room that a member of staff plays on guest arrival.

Dining

Food quality was consistently good, although the delivery was not always as polished.

Breakfast was generally excellent, apart from an avocado that was too hard to eat on the first morning. Despite the hotel knowing about a vegetarian dietary requirement, bacon and potatoes repeatedly arrived together on the same plate. Service was also poor on the first morning. We were not offered coffee, attracting attention was difficult and one staff member appeared disengaged. The standard improved noticeably after we raised the issue with the assistant manager.

In room breakfast should only be ordered if the room has a proper dining table. No trolley was provided, leaving us to eat from a low coffee table too small to fit two plates, let alone a full breakfast for two. Place settings were delivered in a pile for us to arrange, while plates, salt and pepper were forgotten.

The main restaurant occupies a beautiful terrace overlooking the gardens and lake. Decorative canopies add to its appearance but do not adequately shade the tables, making the space uncomfortably hot at times. The truffle pasta was excellent, and I ordered it more than once. Elsewhere, the kitchen repeated itself, serving the same amuse bouche three nights in a row, a lack of imagination.

For lunch, the terrace restaurant above the pool is a lovely alternative. It is more casual, better shaded and serves very good food.

Private Dining

Our private dinner became the clearest example of Passalacqua’s problem with paid extras.

The hotel charged €2,000 for the location and setup, excluding food and drinks. We had requested privacy but were seated on the lawn directly below the main restaurant, visible to the guests dining above and told the experience was not available elsewhere on the property.

We had also called ahead to confirm that drinks would be waiting. Nobody was present when we arrived, and staff eventually appeared with the wrong drinks.

Food cost a further €400 per person, yet we were handed the standard restaurant menu with the individual prices still printed. Those prices appeared to total approximately half the amount charged for the private dinner.

The contrast with our experience at Splendido was striking. Its setup fee was lower, yet the evening felt far more generous, with a substantial floral arrangement and a dedicated staff member available throughout.

I would only recommend private dining at Passalacqua for a genuinely important occasion, and every detail should be agreed in advance. This includes the precise location, degree of privacy, setup, flowers, staffing and complete pricing. During our stay, the execution did not justify the cost.

Facilities

The pool is beautiful, with lake views, colourful umbrellas and sunbeds upholstered in playful La DoubleJ patterns. The design creates a glamorous and distinctly Italian atmosphere.

Practicality is less convincing. The umbrellas are fixed and often fail to provide shade where it is needed. Separately, there were not enough daybeds for every guest when the hotel was full. At this price, guests should not have to compete for a comfortable place beside the pool.

Passalacqua is family friendly, which will appeal to many guests. During our stay, however, two families with particularly loud children significantly changed the atmosphere. An adults only area, a separate family pool or more confident intervention when behaviour affects other guests would improve the experience.

The spa is small but beautifully conceived. Reached through centuries old tunnels, much of it occupies vaulted stone grottos beneath the property. Facilities include a single and couples treatment rooms, a sauna, steam room, relaxation areas and an indoor pool overlooking a lawn. We did not book a treatment, so the quality of the massages remains TBC, but the facilities themselves were excellent.

There is also a bocce court and a tennis court, both with lake views, along with numerous places throughout the house and gardens to sit privately. The gym is adequate, though it runs warm with the doors left open, and the equipment selection is limited.

The gardens contain vegetable patches and chickens, with staff explaining that the produce is used in the restaurant. It is a charming idea, although the eggs served at breakfast were surprisingly pale for hens enjoying such enviable surroundings.

Hiring the hotel's Riva for an afternoon was one of the highlights of our trip, and something I would highly recommend. At €1,000 per hour, though, the price was steep even by Passalacqua's standards, reinforcing my concerns about how extras here are priced.

Service

Service was uneven, although some individuals were excellent.

The manager, Tom, was exceptional. He was visible, warm and consistently involved, clearly leading by example. We saw him helping staff lower the canopies during a storm, personally resolving a guest’s sun lounger issue and conducting our hotel tour himself. His willingness to assist wherever needed was very impressive.

The wider team did not always meet the same standard. Pool service was a clear example. One staff member repeatedly forgot requests and appeared frustrated by his own mistakes. After spilling part of a drink, he left the straw, garnish and cocktail pick on the ground for several hours, until I eventually cleared them away myself.

Staff also misplaced a bottle of dessert wine from a tasting we had attended. Rather than replacing it, the hotel offered one glass each of a different wine. We did not like the alternative, and when we said so, no further solution was offered. At check out, there was another unnecessary delay when the team could not locate one of our bags.

Lake Como is a seasonal destination, and its staffing environment differs from that of a Paris palace hotel. Passalacqua, however, charges at the top of the market and positions itself among the world’s finest properties. The fundamentals still need to be delivered consistently, regardless of which staff member is handling the request.

Would I Stay Again?

Yes. The hotel itself is extraordinary, and the room, gardens and overall atmosphere make Passalacqua worth experiencing.

I would return, but would scrutinise every paid extra and avoid the private dining experience unless the hotel could provide a far more considered proposal.

Final Thoughts

Passalacqua deserves much of its acclaim. It is a remarkable restoration and a very special place to stay, with genuine character and an intimacy that distinguishes it from Lake Como’s larger hotels.

Its weakness is the gap between the quality of the property and the execution of some services and extras. When a hotel has been named the best in the world, expensive additions must feel generous, seamless and worthwhile.

Expensive is expected at Passalacqua. Feeling taken advantage of is not. Even so, I would return in a heartbeat.

If you wish to have us assist with any bookings email us at bookings@stripetravel.com or contact us here. By booking with us, you will likely receive the following additional benefits:

• Daily breakfast for up to two guests per bedroom
• Hotel Credit to be utilised during stay (Guest Rooms: USD 100, Suites USD 200)
• Upgrade of one category, based on availability at time of check-in