Passalacqua ranks #17 on our 2026 list of the best honeymoon hotels in the world. The case below explains why — the hotel itself, the standard it operates at, what it does specifically for couples on a milestone trip, and the alternatives we tested it against.
“Twenty-four rooms in an 18th-century villa above Moltrasio — opened 2022 by the De Santis family who own Grand Hotel Tremezzo. The new benchmark on the lake.”
The hotel itself
Restored 1787 villa, opened 2022, awarded World's #1 Hotel by The World's 50 Best Hotels in 2023 and again in 2024. Twenty-four suites. The most successful new hotel opening in Europe of the decade.
"Restored 1787 villa, opened 2022. Awarded World's #1 Hotel in 2023 and 2024. The most successful new luxury hotel opening in Europe of the decade."
Passalacqua opened in May 2022 in Moltrasio on Lake Como's western shore, in a restored 1787 villa originally built for Count Andrea Lucini Passalacqua, after a six-year restoration by the De Santis family — the same family that owns Grand Hotel Tremezzo a few kilometres north on the same shore. The hotel was awarded The World's 50 Best Hotels' top ranking — World's #1 Hotel — in 2023 and again in 2024, the first time any hotel has won the inaugural ranking in consecutive years.
Why it works for a honeymoon
Alpine honeymoons are not the obvious choice and that is the point. The couple who picks a mountain hotel is choosing a different argument: fireplaces, fur-blanket sleigh rides, après-ski dinners that go later than they should. The hotel succeeds or fails on its dining and its bar — the snow does most of the rest.
Lake Como is, more than any other lake in luxury travel, the lake where the hotel is the destination. Villa d'Este, Passalacqua, Grand Hotel Tremezzo, the new Mandarin Oriental, and the Sereno operate at a standard that the lake itself doesn't really support — there isn't a Michelin-density problem in Como, but every single luxury hotel here has a Michelin kitchen of its own. For honeymoons Como is the European answer to the Maldives: you are not really meant to leave the property.
The grounds — seven acres terraced down to the lake — include a private 19th-century chapel, an Italian garden, a vegetable garden that supplies the restaurant, the pool deck overlooking the lake, and a private dock for boat excursions. The pool has been called one of the most beautiful in Europe; the chapel has hosted vow-renewal and small wedding ceremonies since the property's opening.
Service at Passalacqua is the De Santis family service philosophy at its most refined. The staff-to-guest ratio is among the highest in any luxury hotel anywhere — over four-to-one. The team includes a dedicated wine sommelier, two Italian-trained spa therapists, two private chefs, and a 'Mr. or Mrs. Friday' concierge for every suite. The dining is at the Villa restaurant — a single chef's-tasting-menu Italian restaurant with a daily-changing seasonal programme that draws on the property's own gardens. The wine programme, drawing on the De Santis family's two-property cellar, is among the strongest in northern Italy. Passalacqua is the most refined Italian hotel opened in the past twenty years and represents the De Santis family's argument for what a luxury hotel can be when ownership and operation are unified at the highest level.
Where it ranks against rivals
For a 2026 honeymoon at this level, the most direct comparisons are Claridge's in London (#16), Mandarin Oriental, Lago di Como (#18 on this list), Mandarin Oriental Ritz, Madrid in Madrid (#15). Passalacqua earns the higher rank for one or two specific reasons we explain in the verdict above. The other properties are not lesser hotels — in some cases the answer for your particular trip is the runner-up, and the city-specific page below has the full local ranking.
Practical: getting in
Address: Via Besana, 59, 22010 Moltrasio CO, Italy. Honeymoon-suited categories book six to nine months ahead in shoulder season, twelve months ahead in peak. The full review at the hotel page has current rates, room categories worth paying up for, and the dining and spa programmes worth booking pre-arrival. Use our honeymoon occasion page for the broader context.