Hotel Splendide Royal, Lugano.
The Swiss city of Lugano is an outlier, radically different in feeling from counterparts like Zurich, Geneva, Lausanne, or Basel. It has a 19th-century feel, a measured pace, and traces of the Belle Epoque. Situated on Lake Lugano with tree-lined promenades and a backdrop of domed mountains, the views might have been lifted from an Art Nouveau poster.
Tranquil, stately, and subtle, is the largest metropolis in Ticino, Switzerland's only Italian-speaking canton. The city of 70,000 lies in the southernmost part of the country, bordering northern Italy, just across the water.
It also happens to be Switzerland's third financial center, after Zurich and Geneva, and the discreet brass plaques of numerous private banks can be found on the city’s twisting pedestrian-only passageways. This is quiet money, with no trace of the showy, occasionally bold style of Lake Como, which is only about 45 minutes away. The moneyed set in Lugano are tucked away in discreet modern villas in the surrounding hills overlooking the lake.
Yet, for all its subdued formality, Lugano’s lifeblood is its workers. Because the city lies so close to Italy, its hotels, restaurants, and shops are filled with Italian day workers who keep the place humming and give it a welcome touch of La Dolce Vita. Chances are that your waiter or desk clerk is commuting daily from Italy, seeking higher wages and job opportunities in Switzerland. The result is Swiss efficiency overlaid with Italian charm, which is pretty much perfection in my book.
Villa Principe Leopoldo, Lugano.
Where you stay in Lugano will influence your experience of the city. If you're curious about the villa life high in the hills above the lake, check into the Villa Principe Leopoldo. Set on a hilltop above the city proper on the Collina d'Oro, the Little Hill of Gold, it offers a panorama of the lake and its undulating bays, mountains, vineyards, and Italian villages across the water. This Relais & Chateaux property has just 37 rooms. The older, cantaloupe-hued, statelier part was built in 1926 by Friedrich Leopoldo von Hohenzollern, a relation of Germany's Kaiser Wilhelm II. The newer wing has rooms with a late mid-century modern flair. The two-tiered terrace adjacent to the two pools offers a quiet sanctuary. The main dining room is helmed by the celebrated chef, Cristian Moreschi.
Lugano Dante, Lugano.
Lugano Dante is a boutique hotel in a small square in the heart of this vertical city, adjacent to the funicular that brings you up to the train station. A historic property reborn as a high-design boutique hotel, it has minimal yet elegant rooms with comfortable contemporary furnishings. The outside terrace is ideal for watching the Ticenese come and go as you sip the regional white merlot, a grape grown only in the Ticino.
Hotel Splendide Royale, Lugano
My favorite is the Hotel Splendide Royal, a Bele Epoque grand dame on the lakefront. It’s an architectural mélange of Neoclassical and Art Nouveau styles dating from 1887. The rooms are grand, high-ceilinged, spacious, and the best have dramatic lake views. The hotel restaurant, I Due Sude, or "the two souths," is a nod to the location in southern Switzerland and southern Italy, the birthplace of its Calabrian-born chef, Domenico Ruberto. Awarded one Michelin star in 2018, he has retained it ever since with his inventive cooking.
What to do in Lugano? Wander the maze of narrow streets in search of the best risotto, the best gelato, or another view of the lake. And maybe you can discover another park, square, or gilded shop in this most sophisticated of Swiss cities. At night, the archways, and pedestrian-only streets off Piazza della Riforma, the heart of this small city, are sublimely lit and mildly confusing if you're trying to retrace your steps back to your hotel.
Head to the café-lined Piazza della Riforma to popular restaurants like Vanini Caruso or Sass, where you can sip a Campari or order a bowl of pasta and watch the world go by. The tables spill out of these restaurants, filled with locals. It’s a city that exists for its inhabitants first and tourists second, giving it a delightful authenticity.
Take a funicular ride up Monte San Salvatore at the city's edge, offering a bird’s eye view deep into Italy to the south and north to the Swiss Alps. If you’re eager to see more of Ticino, the Swiss train system can whisk you to the medieval town of Bellinzona or the lakeside retreats of Locarno and Ascona in less than an hour. Or take a slow boat to Morcote, an idealized lakeside hamlet close by. These are all good reasons to linger in Lugano, which has a gracefulness and beauty that few other European cities can rival.
