Lakeside hotels

3 of a kind

FAIRMONT CHATEAU, LAKE LOUISE, CANADA

111 Lake Louise Drive, Lake Louise, Canada

tel: 00800-04411414, fairmont.com/lakelouise

The notion of having a large Renaissance-style chateau sitting on the shores of a majestic lake at the foot of a glacier in a Canadian national park may seem odd, but the effect is remarkable. And typically Victorian. Europeans first set eyes on Lake Louise (as they named it) in 1882 while travelling through the Rockies and by 1890 this hotel, with its turrets, towers and terraces, surrounded by gardens, was up in all its classical splendour.

It comes with a history, which can be partly uncovered on daily heritage tours of the hotel.

The hotel was refurbished in 1990 and is decorated in a mix of (very clean and smooth) European period-style and Alpine. There’s a ski resort here but plenty of other activities too. Canoes and kayaks can be paddled from the base of steps that run down from the dining room and lounge. There is also walking and cycling in the surroundings, and skating on the lake.

Rooms: there are rooms in a variety of standard doubles and suites, some spanning two storeys with balconies overlooking the lake. If you don’t get a lake view, you’ll always have mountains or gardens.

The rooms are decorated in soft tones and have wooden furniture. Each has black-and-white photographs of heroic pioneers and botanical sketches. Doubles from $210 (€170).

CASTADIVA RESORT AND SPA, ITALY

Via Caronti, Blevio, Lake Como, Italy,

tel: 0039-3132511, castadivaresort.com

CastaDiva is a glorious mix of drama, serenity and grandeur. Opulence can be very much in your face, but this hotel – formerly the palazzo of a fashion designer and then an opera singer – is confident enough to say it with elegance, natural materials, upscale spaces and sweeping gestures.

In the late 1700s, the house was owned by Madame Ribiere, an eccentric from Paris who made a fortune dressing high society; in 1827 it was bought by the singer Giuditta Pasta. Pasta was composer Vincenzo Bellini’s muse and the first to take the lead in the opera Norma that he wrote for her; one of the arias in it is Casta Diva. Rossini, who also wrote for her, visited the house, as did Bellini, the French author Stendhal and the Italian writer Alessandro Manzoni.

The resort is comprised of nine villas centred on the palatial Villa Roccabruna. The lake, surrounded by hills, grand buildings on the opposite shore and the pretty village of Blevio nestled nearby, adds to the serenity, despite the occasional rushing by of fast craft.

These boats rock the water in the floating swimming pool just offshore, which links through a tunnel to the underground spa. It is around the pool and the terrace restaurant beside the lake that there is any bustle of activity. Otherwise, guests wander freely and mainly alone in the large grounds. Cars are hidden in a car park nestled into a rock face. Staying here is like being on an opera set: no wonder Italians come here to shoot films and advertising campaigns.

Rooms: There are 77 rooms in nine villas (58 of them are suites and junior suites). Most have a full view of the lake and balconies or terraces, while others overlook gardens, some private. One of the two self-contained villas has a private swimming pool. Doubles from €385.

SWAN HOTEL AND SPA, UK

Newby Bridge, Cumbria, England, tel: 0044-15395-31681, swanhotel.com

You won’t sleep much closer to Lake Windermere – the largest and longest natural lake in England, in the heart of the Lake District – than in this hotel on its southern shore. As well as offering a vantage point for contemplating the water, the Swan is a good starting point for walking in the mountains (including a two-hour round trip to Gummers How, a high point overlooking the lake), taking a ferry across the lake or hopping on an old-fashioned steam train that stops behind the hotel.

Lake settings can bring unwelcome waves, as happened here when the hotel was one of the buildings affected by the Cumbrian floods in 2009. The owners took the opportunity to renovate, with the help of local craftspeople, bringing the Swan into the boutique hotel realm and enticing a clientele who like a relaxed, cosy, chic nest after outdoor activities.

It also comes with history, having been built in 1623. In 1651 the pretty stone bridge beside it was installed and a Georgian facade was added in 1766, when it was a stop-off for stagecoaches.

Rooms: there are 52 rooms. Many have lake views, while others face the hills. The rooms have bold floral wallpaper and calming shades of blue. Doubles from £99 (€126).