Tourists flee the heat of the cities in the summer and go to the Italian Lakes, where they may swim, sail, and enjoy the fresh air of the mountains.
Tourists in the know head up the mountain above Gargnano to Lefay Resort & Spa, one of the most magnificently placed hotels in Italy, to escape the hustle and bustle of the towns and villages that surround Lake Garda.
It’s hard to imagine a more paradisal setting than this, with the mountains behind you and the beautiful water below.
Suites at Lefay Resort & Spa offer views of the hotel’s gardens, the surrounding mountains, or nearby Lake Garda. Depending on where you stay, you may have direct access to the grounds from your room, or a balcony where you may enjoy a cup of coffee in the morning or a glass of wine before supper. The larger rooms even feature private patios with Jacuzzis!
Suites at this resort are enormous, with even the smallest accommodation types (Prestige Junior Suite and Deluxe Junior Suite) boasting 50 square meters of space. No matter the accommodation you choose, you can expect to find a soothing color palette and an interior design focused on the lake. Large flat-screen televisions are available, but who needs them when you have that view?
The marble bathrooms are spotless, and they come equipped with both a tub and a shower in addition to a toilet. The fluffy white bathrobes and flip flops given by the hotel allow guests to lounge around the spa and outdoor pools, or even have lunch at the hotel’s restaurant, without changing into street clothes. These complementary facilities are offered by Lefay SPA.
Food and drink
At Lefay Resort & Spa, we know that eating and drinking are important components of your vacation. An evening beverage at the poolside bar is an experience you won’t soon forget, while the Lounge Bar, indoors, is a bit more formal, with dim lighting and a piano player most evenings. The area around the lake and in nearby Franciacorta is home to some excellent vineyards, so be sure to ask the bartender for recommendations.
There are two eateries available for your dining pleasure. The atmosphere at La Limonia is more casual, and the food is a modern take on traditional Mediterranean fare. The handcrafted pastas with sauces like wild broccoli and Adriatic anchovies, or burrata, rocket, and almond milk, are not only delicately flavored but also wonderfully presented, and the seared scallops with courgette cream and courgette flowers will set the hearts of pescatarians racing.
The far more formal Gramen (from the Latin for “herb”) is open for dinner Wednesday through Sunday. Seasonal, often foraged or grown nearby ingredients are the stars of the mostly vegetarian menu. Executive Chef Matteo Maenza’s ingenuity is on full display in each dish, and the restaurant’s philosophy promotes guests’ holistic consideration of the environment and their own health.
Facilities
An integral part of the resort, Lefay Spa World has its own scientific committee that is always coming up with new products and treatments to offer. In reality, the combined interior and outdoor areas of this “temple of wellness” total 4,300 square meters. The sauna and other pools face out onto the gardens, which are truly a slice of Eden, and the infinity pool at Lefay has one of the most breathtaking views of Lake Garda of any pool in the world.
The spa’s lunar pool, a warm salt lake illuminated from above by a suspended moon, is perhaps the most out-of-the-ordinary feature. The salt in the water makes floating considerably easier than in fresh water; it’s almost like the force of gravity is reduced. If you’d want to spend some quality time with your significant other, you can reserve this spa area exclusively for your use.