Aqva Boutique Hotel

Intro

Lago di Garda, Italy’s biggest lake has always shimmered brightly, luring classic Roman poets, Italian aristos and the Hollywood elite for time immemorial. Perched on its lakeside is an original 1930s white villa, now cleverly reimagined for the nomads of the modernist style. With the feel of a hip in-the-know club for lido-lovers, Aqva Boutique Hotel’s modular alabaster-white building is fronted by a turquoise pool surrounded by sleek decking and a private pier jutting out onto the lake.

Simplistic, geometric and contemporary, Aqva with its iconic pilotis is in sharp design contrast to the ornate palazzos and the Medieval spa town of Sirmione with its walled harbour and hallmarks of the Habsburg Empire. Originally a 1930s family home drenched in the sunny privilege of its lakeside setting, the villa became slowly layered and crowded with frill and frivolity. It was the job of architect and owner Federica Mometto to literally strip back the overlaps and start the design process again, using the concepts left behind to build on its blueprint – letting ideas flourish naturally including the light which flooded in from the reflective lake and the use of original materials such as travertine marble and natural wood.

Lay by the pool and watch the colour pop of your Aperol spritz against the azure Garda waters. Gaze at the distant Dolomites before leaping into the lake. If activity strikes, hop on one of the hotel’s bikes for a ride to Sirmione or hire a boat to pootle around the isola’s and shoreline of exquisite Lake Garda. Aqva’s owners are a thoughtful pair, who’ve considered the guest in everything they do. From creating an adults-only haven to the simple and stylish interiors, there is an achingly cool calm that comes from their wise choices. Like the designer seating scattered around the exterior, there are many spots to sit back, take sundowner o’clock and sample a glass of local Lugana wine which comes with slivers of local ham.

This is villa life chilled on the lakeside where Monsieur Corbusier would not look out of place, and the go-to bolthole for those of you who appreciate the aesthetic of sleek 1930s Internationalism in all of its spatial play alla moderno.

Rooms

Foodie

Let your lakeside location lull you to tranquillity but don’t miss breakfast. Laid out on a huge smorgasbord table around which pot plants breathe and grow, you’ll find a beautifully presented selection of local treats. Catering for all needs, almond, rice and soya milk greet you in glass bottles. Tiny dishes present fresh, chopped seasonal fruit. Fresh figs wind around slate dishes of feathery slices of speck ham. Tiered stands showcase mini pastries, warm and tempting. Cheeses live under glass bell jars. It’s as beautiful as it is delicious.

Lunch, taken under a shaded umbrella facing the lake, can be fresh salads of tomato and burrata, prosciutto and salami and plus international cuisine reach from neighbouring countries including homemade hummus and gazpacho.

At sunset, choose a botanic gin, go classic with Aperol spritz, or taste crisp local Lugana wines. Feel the heat seep out of the day and ponder evening plans. As Aqva does not serve dinner, take advice from the owners – their epicurean recommendations are spot-on for Lake Garda and even reach as far as Verona and Mantova.

Location

Owners

Owned and designed by an architect with an obsession for the details and a software developer, Federica Mometto and Massimiliano Guidetti   have created a small commune, made with love, that brings together like-minded individuals to their small and welcoming abode.

“What we wanted to do is renovate an old building and re-discover the spirit of the first 1930 guest house. In the process, we like to imagine this place like a raw precious stone and our task is to cut it in the best way to make it as lucent as possible.”