Five-star relaxation

Since 1870, Grand Hotel Victoria has been welcoming guests to the ancient village of Menaggio to enjoy the majestic beauty of Lake Como and the surrounding mountains. Today’s 5-star luxury hotel embodies the values of Italian design thanks to a renovation project carried out between 2018 and 2021 by the local architecture and design firm Studio Pe’. The work included the addition of a new wing and renovation of the historic lakefront villa, which now has 34 new rooms including several suites with panoramic views, in addition to the 47 rooms housed in the new building known as the Palazzo. The villa itself is connected to the Palazzo by a transparent walkway that leads into a lobby surrounded by a range of new facilities: conference rooms, a children’s area, staff offices, a futuristic wine cellar, a gourmet restaurant, a gym and a large spa that is also open to non-hotel guests. Its 1,600 square metre space is equipped with all the latest wellness facilities, including treatment rooms, saunas, Turkish bath, steam room, ice room and salt room, arranged around a central 20-metre-long heated swimming pool. The work on the historical wing included thermal insulation and an upgrade that revisited the characteristic features of the 19th-century villa in a contemporary style. “We gave the interiors a fresher, more modern look while retaining traces of the classical flavour… for the new wing I used a geometry that recalls the proportions of the historic building and contemporary materials in soft, warm colours,” writes the firm’s founder, architect Franco Pe’. The new wing was built entirely from scratch using high-performance materials, including ceramic tiles from Cotto d’Este in the guest bathrooms and some of the common areas, locations where hygiene, ruggedness and durability are essential qualities. The elegant and atmospheric Erre Spa stands out for its high-quality surface coverings, including large Kerlite 6Plus Pietra d’Iseo slabs in the colour Ceppo on the floors and walls in the central area, the floors of the salt room and the changing rooms, and the pool area paving in a 20 mm thickness. This irregular stone-effect surface in tone-on-tone greys brings a strong personality and sense of grace to the entire space. The Pietra di Iseo stone look is further enhanced by the contrast with the modern metallic effect chosen for the walls, where Kerlite 5Plus Metal laminated porcelain slabs in the Iron version create a stylish contemporary feel.
Large 100×300 cm extra-thin Kerlite 5Plus Exedra slabs in the colour Calacatta Glossy from the same company were chosen to lend a touch of luminosity and luxury to the walls in the ensuite bathrooms. Finally, Kerlite 3plus Buxy Corail Blanc was chosen for the spa lobby floor and Kerlite 3plus Black&White for the lift walls.