Hollywood’s other hills
It’s beautiful, luxurious and packed with film stars... no wonder Emma Merriweather fell in love with Lake Como
BESIDES the hills of Hollywood, there may be no sight as familiar from films, adverts and glamorous photoshoots as the hills surrounding Lake Como. The region is more beautiful than any set designer could craft, though, with deep blue water offset by rugged, wooded mountains, while the snow-capped Alps lie in wait just beyond.
With huge villas set among each hillside, each with their own jetty and walled garden, as well as villages so charming you can barely pass through them without wanting to stop and explore, it’s unsurprising that Como has become the second home of choice for the Hollywood elite.
George Clooney spends his summer at his 22-bedroom home in Laglio, Villa Oleandra. Bought in 2001 for $10 million, it’s now thought to be worth $100million.
While Clooney bought the home as a place to escape, it has been his A-list parties that have made Como a paparazzi’s dream. On a typical summer break, Oleandra can see the likes of Brad Pitt, Bono, Matt Damon, Julia Roberts, Jennifer Aniston and Cindy Crawford coming and going. In fact, Oleandra is now a stop-off for tourists visiting the area, hoping to catch a glimpse of Clooney with his wife Amal.
Our taxi-driver scoffs when I ask if he can point out the villa on our journey from the airport. He says he is asked so often about Clooney, but ‘he’s just a guy’.
Ah yes, the taxis. Flying into Milan’s Malpensa airport, we assumed a taxi would be the best way to make the 40-minute journey from the airport to our base, the Grand Hotel Tremezzo, 15 minutes from Clooney’s home. I had never seen a meter rise so fast. By the time we arrived, it had passed the €200 (£153) mark. The best way to avoid this is to take a train to Como town and then catch a hydrofoil (which offers the best views of the lake anyway).
YOU may feel you’ve seen the Grand Hotel Tremezzo somewhere before; and if you’ve seen the film Grand Budapest Hotel, you’ll know why: their art nouveau facades are virtually identical. When you arrive, you’re even ushered into the oldfashioned elevator by a bus boy dressed in a pillar-box hat.
There’s a sense of occasion that accompanies even the smallest thing: can’t finish your wine at dinner? Your glass will be waiting in your room by the time you’ve walked back from the restaurant. The ice in your water has melted while you sunbathe at the lake? Open your eyes and it will have been silently replaced.
The hotel, where Clooney has enjoyed a drink or two at the terrace bar, has two pools, one set in the lake with huge wooden decking surrounding it.
It’s a wonderful experience to swim in a pool that’s moving with the ebb and flow of a lake, as boats sail past.
We ate breakfast and dinner at La Terrazza. Dinner was simple but exceptionally cooked northern Italian dishes such as fresh mushroom tagliatelle, beef with gnocchi or lake fish with risotto.
On our last night, we agreed we had eaten the best dinner of our entire lives.
Outside the hotel, Villa Carlotta, a 17th Century former palace, is a ten-minute walk away and has a huge botanical garden, and a museum inside. Or go across the lake to Bellagio, described as ‘the jewel in Como’s crown’.
If last year’s report that Clooney is considering selling Oleandra is true, it may be that a trip to Lake Como will no longer hold the excitement that you might bump into him at any moment.
But there’s enough Hollywood magic without him.