Orta San Giulio Lake Orta, Italy
Opened
1999
Price
$$$$
Rated for
Design Heritage LuxeOutside the door
Moorish lakeside hideaway
Intricate stucco arabesques and an ornate minaret bring Middle Eastern splendor to the quiet, wooded shores of Lake Orta.
What it’s good at
Remarkable
Ornate 1879 Moorish revival architecture featuring an elaborate minaret, intricate stucco arabesques, and frescoed ceilings.
Remarkable
An 1879 cotton industrialist palazzo preserving nineteenth-century Middle Eastern-inspired craftsmanship beside Lake Orta.
Notable
Intimate fourteen-room hospitality with bespoke concierge service, antique furnishings, and priority three-star dining access.
What they say
One Michelin Key
Michelin
UK Readers' Choice Awards – Rest of Italy
Condé Nast Traveler
2025
So thorough is the stylization of the villa’s spaces that you can’t help but feel transported.
Somewhere quiet
Away from the crowds. Getting around takes intention.
A five-minute stroll reaches medieval Orta San Giulio, while the hilltop chapels of Sacro Monte rise through surrounding pine woods.
The rooms
Four-poster canopy beds draped in silk damask sit on inlaid parquet, with marble bathrooms looking out toward the lake.
The spa
The private wellness suite offers Ayurvedic rituals and aromatherapy using wild-plant essential oils, alongside sauna and steam facilities.
Dogs stay too.
Restaurant
Ristorante Villa Crespi
Chef Antonino Cannavacciuolo’s three-Michelin-starred dining rooms serve Campania-inspired Mediterranean dishes beneath gilded Moorish arches.
At the table
Afternoon tea with Rosé Champagne and evening cocktails are served on the sunlit terrace beneath ornate stucco arcades.
How it began
Cotton industrialist Cristoforo Benigno Crespi commissioned the 1879 palazzo to evoke Baghdad, topping the eccentric folly with a minaret.
Good to know
Stay here
Villa Crespi
Choose your dates to see every room and rate, and book in a few steps.
Add dates to see the price for your stay.
Or book with
Booking.com ExpediaWe may earn a commission when you book through Booking.com or Expedia. It never decides which hotels we include or how we rate them.
Lake Orta
More like this
HOUSE FANTINI / lake time
“Lakefront design villa”
Laqua by the Lake
“Modernist lakefront cove”
La Darbia Resort
“Piedmontese vineyard farmstead”
The app
Like this one? There are so many more.
Swipe any city’s hotels and heart the ones you love. The app gets your taste.
Our shorthand
How we rate hotels.
The medals
Gold
Extremely rare. Sets the global standard.
Silver
Brilliant execution. And we’re picky.
Bronze
They did this well. You’ll notice.
Listed
A defining trait. Makes the hotel what it is.
The eight vibes
Design
Built around a vision. Even the door handles have a designer.
Luxe
Cared for at every turn. The bath is drawn before you ask.
Local
It could only be here. You wake up knowing where you are.
Social
Where the city goes out. The bar is full and the night is young.
Heritage
A building with a story. Once a palace, a monastery, a station.
Wellness
You leave feeling new. Rest, sweat, soak and sleep like a stone.
Classic
The city grew up with it. Same rituals, same regulars, same bar.
Resort
A world of its own. Something to do from breakfast to nightcap.
The scene
Lively
Where things happen: restaurants, shops, people.
Central
Well-located: walkable to some things, a short ride to more.
Quiet
Away from the crowds. Getting around takes intention.
Secluded
A place apart: the property is the destination.