Food experience @ Il Re della Busa @ Hotel Lido Palace / Garda lake / Italy

House & Hotel Magazine features hedonism, dandys and playboys and legendary hotels.

The Lido Palace is a perfect place, it has 111 rooms and you feel straight away like at home. Design by Alberto Cechetto.

Lake Maggiore so called the big lake is the second largest in the Lake District. On the west shore in the small town of Baveno the mysteries of the past have been preserved by the fact that the Lakes used to have a water level many meters higher. This part of Italy was founded on trading that originated in the 1st Century and has vowed allegiance in turn to Roman, French, and Austrian rule.

The tradition of the European grand tour dates back to the 16th century. Those who could travel did so for reasons of health, status, culture, curiousity, adventure or unadulterated recreation. The Simpion road that Napoleon and his chief engineer Nicolas Ceard converted in 1805 to carry his Italian campaign artillery, truly heralded the advent of the tourism era. Steamboat travel commenced in 1816 and as early as 1841 Thomas Cook was selling the Italian Land of lakes. The “Il traforo ferroviario del Sempione” railway that made the Alps passable in 1906 made the region even more accessible and tourism has only increased over time.

Dating from 1857 the Lido Palace started life as the villa of the Marquis Durazzo of Genoa. The original classic architecture with 22 foot ceilings, etched glass walls and intricate white marble carvings is still very much evident although avant garde touches have been added. It remained a private home until after the famous visit by Queen Victoria and Princess Beatrice in 1879, when the villa hosted many of her courtiers for the period of her stay. In the year following her visit the house was bought by the mayor of Baveno Gerolamo Rossi who was responsible for its transformation, opening it as the Grand Hotel Baveno in 1882.

As soon as the legendary beauty of the Lake District became easily accessible many famous folk came to see what all the fuss was about. Stories of the rich and royal abound and many have slept in beds across the region. Queen Victoria, Franz Kafka, Thomas Mann, Max Oppenheimer and the team of Bayern Munich were in the Lido, Princess Beatrice enjoyed her 22 birthday celebration in style certainly put Lake Maggiore decisively on the map for all travelers.

Wagner, Wordsworth, Lord Byron and Verdi all came here for inspiration and Umberto Giordano’s Fedora extravaganza was born here.

Special story: Room 124 at the Lido Palace was chosen by Winston Churchill and his bride Clementine Hozier for their honeymoon in 1908. Churchill bought tickets to Baveno from Thomas Cook.

House & Hotel Magazine likes this place.

Resto tip: Yous should try the fine dining cuisine of Guiseppe Sesito, in summertime you can eat outside.
We had warm marinated scallops with passion fruit, carrots and asparagus, followed by homemade cannoli pasta with tomatoes and smoked mozzarella cheese and eglant with basil.
Finally the “pastry chef surprise”.
Yummy. Fantastic experience a few more stars will follow soon Guiseppe! Thx.

Lido