The No. 1 request from friends and family when they learned I was on my way to the CastaDiva Resort & Spa on Italy's storied Lake Como was a variation of, "Send me a picture of George Clooney's house."
"Don't be silly," I replied. "It's not like I'll actually see his house."
But in fact, we did see his house, as can anyone who cruises the lake from the resort's private dock, for the actor's property sits on the water's edge in full view, along with dozens of other eye-popping lakeside mansions.
But this minor glimpse of glitterati life turned out to be the least of the attractions at CastaDiva, a five-star Virtuoso resort built around Villa Roccabruna, the former home of soprano Giuditta Pasta, which sits in the center of the six-acre property.
The resort features 73 suites, junior suites and guestrooms and two private villas: the three-bedroom Villa Norma and the one-bedroom Villa Amina.
Throughout, the hotel delivers a blend of many elements: posh without being stuffy, historical but with contemporary touches, and most of all, a staff that is used to famous guests but also is adept at making us mere mortals feel important.
Because Pasta was a protege of 19th-century composer Vincenzo Bellini, the music theme appears throughout the property. Guestroom buildings and the two private villas are named for characters in Italian operas -- Norma, Fiordiligi, Gilda, Leonora, Dorabella, Amina, Violetta and Isotta -- and the chic Bar Bellini is named for the composer himself.
Fine dining is a big part of the resort's appeal, exemplified by l'Orangerie restaurant and traditional Italian options at Giardino Dei Sapori & Grill, both of which are overseen by executive chef Massimiliano Mandozzi.
One of the most alluring aspects of the property is the CastaDiva spa, designed by Italian architect Paolo Bodega, which features the Swiss skin care line LaVallee and products from the British Aromatherapy Associates brand.
Tip: When the spa therapists suggest that you arrive for your appointment early, they mean it. Yes, there is a Finnish sauna and Turkish hammam, but those facilities are just the tip of the iceberg at the underground spa circuit. When you enter the wellness center, the first thing you see is the Darsena relaxation room, once a wooden dock and now outfitted with a glass floor built over the waters of the lake. Lounge chairs encircle the room, and a pathway leads you into a network of chambers that include the aforementioned sauna and steam bath and numerous aromatherapy baths and pools, some with hydrojets, and showers that pulsate with changing color or rain down a cascade of ice.
The hammam, or Turkish bath, is one of a slew of treatment rooms and amenities at the CastaDiva’s spa.
My favorite rooms hands down were the Himalayan rose salt room -- I'm not sure what inhaling that salt was supposed to do, but it felt great -- and the so-called emotional showers with peppermint and exotic fragrances that relieved my sinus ailments in a flash.
The wellness center also offers a heated floating pool, Jacuzzi and sun deck built right on the lake as well as a state-of-the-art fitness center, two treatment rooms and four spa suites that symbolize the four elements: earth, fire, water and air.
My guestroom was located just a few minutes' walk from the main villa, and one of my favorite parts of the day was the leisurely stroll along the lake, through flowering, landscaped gardens toward the main villa for breakfast.
As hypnotized as we were by the relaxed vibe at the resort, we did take advantage of the easy access to some of the other villages on the lake. After our Clooney-stalking boat tour of the lake, for example, we spent a few hours in the town of Bellagio, where we dined on varieties of lake fish overlooking the water, and on another day we hopped on the resort shuttle for the 10-plus-minute ride to the town of Como for shopping and a seriously good dinner of brick-oven pizza at a sidewalk cafe.
I was curious about the make-up of the hotel guests, about 20% of whom are from the U.S., according to Francesco Ferruzzi, director of sales and marketing for CastaDiva. Typical guests are couples between 35 and 55 years old, and travel agents are key in bookings, Ferruzzi said, predicting that the property's recent acceptance into Virtuoso will increase that relationship with the trade, "opening the perfect channel of luxury advisers for the resort."
When should you go? There are three main seasons, according to Ferruzzi: low season in March, April, October and November; high season in May, June and September; and peak season in July and August.
Room rates start at $550 per night, and private Mercedes-Benz transfers from Milan Malpensa Airport, which take from about 45 minutes to an hour, cost from about $270. Our private, five-hour boat tour is priced at about $1,100, but a complimentary three-hour Bellagio excursion via 24-seat resort boat also is available.
The Mandarin Oriental Hotel Group took over the management of the property in July, and it will be rebranded the Mandarin Oriental, Lake Como this spring, following a refurbishment. This will be Mandarin Oriental's first resort in Western Europe and will complement the Group's Milan hotel.
See www.castadivaresort.com.