Charm, peace & movie stars at lakeside Locarno

“Buona sera,” says the smiling receptionist, wishing me a good evening, as I check in, showing her my passport and reminding myself that I’m not in Italy, but Switzerland. The Hotel Belvedere Locarno will be my base for savouring Ticino, the only Swiss canton that has Italian as its sole official language. I’ve only been here a matter of minutes but there’s already a lot to like about this hotel, from the magnolia tree flourishing beautifully by the entrance to the artworks adorning the gardens and public areas. With 90 south-facing rooms and suites, all with views of Lake Maggiore, this hotel has (four) star appeal. It’s the partner hotel for the Locarno International Film Festival, an event founded in 1946 and each August drawing actors and fashion icons to this beguiling lakeside resort town. Posters of past editions of the festival line the hotel’s corridors, while black-and-white photographs of previous festival attendees — among them Harrison Ford, Anthony Hopkins and Daniel Craig — grace the bar. Other, more classical paintings and sculptures pepper the interiors and grounds of a hillside hotel that has been welcoming guests since the late 1800s but has a history long predating that, with the location home to a noble family in the 15th century. Also around this time, the sanctuary of Madonna del Sasso was built on a crag high above the hotel and remains an important site of Catholic pilgrimage. Its wedding cake-like features are visible from the hotel’s gorgeously-manicured gardens and you can reach it — in about 20 minutes — on a path that ascends beside the Belvedere or more quickly on a funicular that stops outside the hotel and connects the sanctuary with central Locarno. Public and shuttle buses also wind down to the town’s historic core and the lake, but you can walk down in about 10 minutes (and up again to the hotel in about 15). This I do several times during my four-night stay at the Belvedere. Whether I’m out hiking in the glorious valleys above Locarno, boarding boat rides on Lake Maggiore, strolling through the historic city of Lugano, or day-tripping to the Piedmont region of Italy (a scenic train journey from Locarno), I’m happy to have a pleasant, comfortable base to return to. I start my mornings in the hotel’s sleek Fontana restaurant with a cappuccino or two and a good buffet breakfast, filling up on fruits, cereals, pastries, cold cuts and cheeses (and usually adding cooked-to-order eggs with smoked salmon or spiced chipolatas). I look out to the patio where water bubbles from a fountain erected in 1815. I dine at Fontana one evening too, enjoying the Italian-Ticinese cuisine — puff pastry with robiola cheese and asparagus, creamed pea risotto with burrata cream, lamb shank confit, and mascarpone and pistachio parfait — with red wine made with the merlot grapes that dominate this canton’s vineyards. Tasting menus are from CHF125 ($237) with a la carte dishes (CHF26-58, $49-$109) also available. Most of my fellow guests are from the French and German-speaking cantons of Switzerland, and several staff are conversant in all these languages as well as English. Other pleasing aspects of the Belvedere include the spa and solarium which has a pool and jacuzzi free for guests to use (you can also book paid-for massages and other treatments). Pilates and yoga classes are held in the garden, which has tidy lawns, loungers, giant chess, ping pong tables and even a sandy beach volley court. The Belvedere toasted its 125-year anniversary in 2017 and has undergone numerous renovations over the decades, including to its rooms, which range from 17sqm Comfort Chics to two-bedroom suites, and are spread between the hotel’s original mansion and its newer annexes. My 21sqm Superior Chic room is in the Casa Luna block. It has a contemporary style with timber flooring and a large ensuite with a double vanity sink and walk-in shower with camellia-scented lotions. One daily late-afternoon ritual I enjoy is making an espresso with my in-room coffee machine and sipping it on my room’s covered outside balcony. I relax, ponder my day so far and take in the views over Locarno and Lake Maggiore. It’s late March, snow still caps the peaks above the water, but it’s mild, the sun is out, the sky is blue and — between the northern spring and autumn especially — I’d definitely recommend this hotel, Locarno and Ticino to you. + Steve McKenna was a guest of Ticino Tourism and Switzerland Tourism. They have not influenced this story, or read it before publication. fact file + Expect to pay from around CHF267 ($507) for a room at Hotel Belvedere Locarno. Overnight guests receive a free Ticino Ticket, which allows for complimentary travel on public transport around the canton for the duration of your stay. To book a room see belvedere-locarno.com/en + For more information on planning a trip in Ticino and across Switzerland, see ticino.ch and myswitzerland.com