Located south of the Alps in the Lombardy region, less than a couple of hours' drive north of Milan, Lake Como's biforked surface stretches over 146 square kilometers, and reaches over 400 meters in depth. It is a fascinating feature that, in 1946, earned the location its own Loch Ness Monster, the Lariosauro, or simply, "Larrie" — a mysterious creature said to inhabit its basin, named after a prehistoric fossil found near the Lario (the lake's ancient name).
Lush vegetation, myths and picturesque hilltop towns aside, what makes Lake Como renowned to anyone is the incessant flow of celebrities that flock here during the summer, or choose to make it their home, as well as its appearances in iconic films like Alfred Hitchcock's The Pleasure Garden, Sergio Leone's Once Upon a Time in America, and Casino Royale, the 21st instalment of the James Bond saga. From Richard Branson to George Clooney, Donatella Versace, and Sylvester Stallone, many are the A-listers who have lived here, and even more the music artists who have stopped by, including Madonna, Beyoncé and her husband, American rapper Jay-Z, Miley Cyrus, and Bruno Mars. And so, what better place to open the first-ever listening suite in the world than its most contemporary, sumptuous stay, Il Sereno, one of the best hotels in Italy for design flair?
Inaugurated last month, the five-star luxury property's newest addition and largest room yet, the Darsena Listening Suite, gets its name from one of its (many) perks: the private dock. That's right: guests staying here can access their accommodation directly from the water without having to pass through the front desk after enjoying a ride on one of the property's lacquered wooden boats (there are three custom-designed types to pick from). As if the state-of-the-art music equipment that serves as the protagonist of this 200-m2 suite, which comes fitted with Klipsch La Scala II speakers, a McIntosh MC275 vacuum tube amplifier and a McIntosh C22 preamplifier, a Thorens 1601 turntable with Sumiko Amethyst cartridge, a restored Revox B77 reel-to-reel deck, and a selection of over 500 records, wasn't enough to make it an event, the personal story behind it is just as captivating.
Inside Il Sereno's Darsena Listening Suite: A High-Fidelity Paradise, Wrapped in Lakeview Sights
Back in 2021, Sereno Hotels' founder and owner, Luis Contreras, was having dinner at a friend's house when he stumbled upon a reel-to-reel player similar to the one that now sits in the Darsena Listening Suite. It wasn't just love at first sight: that single object was enough to take him back in time. "The idea for the room itself came from the tape deck," he tells me on the morning after my overnight at Il Sereno, when we meet to discuss its behind-the-scenes on the terrace of the suite. "I never had a reel-to-reel player, but my uncle had one, and all I remember from when I was little is that we were not allowed to touch it," Contreras, a hugely tall, accommodating man with an infectious smile, laughs. Of course, whenever he left, "we played with it, and so when I saw that tape deck in someone else's home many years later, something just clicked in me."
Working side by side with prolific Spanish architect, industrial designer and art director Patricia Urquiola — the creative eye behind Il Sereno's retro-sophisticated, characterful interiors — he crafted a space that, coming off the back of the mass digitalization that ruled the COVID-19 period, lets guests "put a foot back into the tactile world". An avid music lover, the Sereno Hotels CEO explains that the project took shape from his passion for tunes as much as it stemmed from his obsession with "cool, beautiful stuff". Anyone wanting to listen to an album analogically can do so "with an inexpensive phono amplifier and a pair of headphones," Contreras adds. "But still, to make the experience worthwhile isn't just the music that you take in, but what you see, what you touch."
"The Oldest Models Are Still the Best": Honing in on Music Gear's Functionality and Style
"To make the experience worthwhile isn't just the music that you take in, but what you see, what you touch." — Luis Contreras, founder, owner, and CEO of Sereno Hotels
This observation, along with the desire to create a room that, balancing high-quality music reproduction with inspiring decor, felt as user-friendly to vinyl connoisseurs as it is for amateurs, underpinned the Darsena Listening Suite's design. Needless to say, optimizing the acoustics fell high on the agenda from the start. Because of its lustrous terrazzo flooring, generous volumes, and panoramic floor-to-wall sliding windows, "the space was very bouncy and certainly not ideal for sound," Contreras says. To remedy that, Urquiola dressed the left-hand side of the room, as well as the portion of wall immediately above the bed's headboard, in a custom-woven jacquard fabric which, besides providing insulation, brings the coruscating movement of Lake Como's waters indoors via an abstract tapestry of softly textural chiaroscuro motifs.
The second biggest challenge lay in finding gear suitable for the purpose. After consulting some of the pioneers of the ongoing high-fidelity renaissance — "people your age who are building music equipment from scratch, who are at the forefront of this sub-culture" — the founder of Il Sereno decided to treasure their advice. "One of them said a phrase that lodged in my brain," Contreras recounts. "He said, 'when all this stuff was invented, these were the iPhones, the AI of that time.'" Sound reproduction was the highest technology available to humans back then, and so those mediums reflected the peak of human knowledge in that era. "He then told me that, for certain speaker equipment, the oldest models are still the best, which helped me understand what to look for next."
The models now installed on-site, which are reissues of iconic 1960s to 1970s designs, were chosen for their audio quality specifics as much as for their beginner-proof functionality and visual style. Checking into the Darsena Listening Suite, it is easy to feel like a bull in a china shop at first sight, particularly if you are aware of the equipment's worth. It is something I experience myself when, after being given a tour of Sereno Hotels' only historical property, the 16th-century, 17-room Villa Pliniana — a marvel of a palazzo brought to life by painstakingly restored coffered ceilings, stuccos, and frescoed walls, all merging with Urquiola's hip, vintage-infused, sculptural approach to decor — I decide to give David Bowie's 1969 album Space Oddity a spin as my first music pick of the night.
"You Can't Just Put the Thing on Shuffle Mode": Tuning Into a More Intentional Kind of Leisure
As the owner of a record player, it isn't the LP handling that causes doubt for me (I lift and lower the tonearm of the sleek wood and chrome turntable confidently pressing the same button, and watch the disc do its thing, although silently), but figuring out how to get the amps to work instead. It takes me a moment or two, but when I realize all I need to do is switch the output on the pre-amplifier and switch that on, in turn, its glass valves going from a sunset glow to an emerald green light, the Darsena Listening Suite instantly fills up with warmth and life. As the Thin White Duke proceeds to sing the lyrics from the record's inaugural, eponymous track — Ground Control to Major Tom / Ground Control to Major Tom / Take your protein pills and put your helmet on — I smirk, satisfied. Embraced by the full-bodied, absorbing vibrations of the room's avant-garde sound system, it feels like hearing those notes for the very first time.
Getting ready for dinner at Il Sereno al Lago, the hotel's in-house Michelin experience, led by Campanian chef Raffaele Lenzi, I let both Side One and Side Two run through, and search Contreras' eclectic LP collection for the albums I want to listen to once I am back in the room. The Smiths' Strangeways, Here We Come (Embossed), The Beatles' White Album, Dire Straits' Alchemy, and an unexpected compilation of Italian music festival Sanremo '77's greatest hits all make it into my list, as do Weather Report's Heavy Weather, U2's Joshua Tree, and many, many more classical music discs. Before such a wide variety of vinyl, I am almost transfixed, but encouraging travelers to be more intentional and take time with their leisure, Contreras tells me the next day, is one of the goals that the Darsena Listening Suite strives to fulfill. "You can't just put the whole thing on shuffle mode," he jokes. "Instead, you have to get up, turn the record, and think about what you'd like to play next — it's all part of the experience."
Il Sereno: Capturing Nature's Beauty, Inside Out
Some of the spectacular views I soaked in during my stay at Il Sereno, which included a boat tour to sibling property, Villa Pliniana.
Beautifully situated on the lake, on the same level as the room and the hotel's beach club-style, outdoor infinity pool, the eatery alone is enough to warrant a trip to Il Sereno. When I get there, the sun is yet to begin its descent. From my seat, I can trace it as its reflection on the water morphs from silver to golden and red, until it disappears behind the hills. I am treated to a welcome drink of Champagne, paired with a tumeric mayo-topped, delicate soufflé bite to start. Proceeding à la carte (hungrier stayers have three thematic menus to indulge in), I try the entrée of baked aubergine with stracciatella ice cream, tomato, and basil — a summer-ready, luscious makeover of the traditional (and far more heavy) parmigiana di melanzane.
To follow, I order a main of lavaret à la plancha, a tender, white flesh fish sourced from the Lario that's crisped up on the griddle, dressed in a reduction of cassoeula (a pork meat and cabbage dish from around here), and served along with a side of buttery potato pavé, lettuce, and drops of lemon and mint. Blame it on my connection to London, but the most immediate way I find to describe it is an elevated roast dinner, with a quintessentially Italian twist. Rounding off the meal is a sour cherry and hazelnut crumble whose layered, PVC-like surface, made from fruit jelly, has more to do with contemporary art than cuisine, and what lies inside is as surprising and outstanding as its outer film. Throughout the dinner service, the staff, starting from Chef de rang Matteo Signaroldi, is equally attentive to my gluten intolerance as it is to ensuring I am, even in the absence of company, still having a good time — a seemingly unimportant, yet mindful gesture that shows how much someone going the extra mile for you can make the difference in the long run.
When I return to the suite, divided from Il Sereno al Lago by nothing but a winding corridor, it looks even larger than when I saw it last. Dotted with spirited furnishings conceived by Urquiola for some of today's foremost design brands, from the modernist Bohemian chaise lounge she re-envisioned for Moroso to sandy Molteni sofas and Husk, her cocooning armchairs for B&B Italia, the Darsena Listening Suite feels almost wasted on a single guest. And no, it is not my imposter syndrome speaking. Details like the Japan-inspired textile and wooden wall paneling behind the bed, the rounded cabinetry introduced as a soft counterpart to sharp shelving all around, and the copper, sliding room dividers give the stay a cozy and researched home-like feel. The same is true of the statement slabs tucked behind and underneath the minimalist tub, which instinctively remind me of the rock cave carved under Villa Pliniana by the Colorée Valley, an affluent stream that flows into the lake.
Just the Beginning: A Space That Comes to Life Through Music, Food, and Design
As I swap Salvatore Accardo's interpretation of Niccolò Paganini's Concerto Per Violino (No. 6) and Kazuhito Yamashita's lulling Guitar Recital II for jazz American musician Chuck Mangione's far more explosive, contagious Tarantella mix, I begin to regret not having anyone to dance with. That, Contreras assures, isn't something people will have to worry about when experiencing the Darsena Listening Suite at its most convivial.
"We can easily fit 30 people in here without the space feeling in any way crammed," he says, "and that's not even counting the garden that's part of the room." Soon, when it isn't reserved for individual sojourns, Il Sereno's most sweeping suite will open up to groups of guests for exclusive experiences centered around the fusion of musical and gastronomic taste. Besides the possibility of requesting specific LPs to be added to the collection ahead of your visit free of cost, "the integration of private dining is one of the most exciting aspects of the concept," Contreras adds. "That's why we built the giant table, so that everyone can sit back, enjoy the sound system, connect, and relax. We are already working on a superb bar for the room, too, and are excited to see where the ongoing merging of lifestyle and tourism with the wider creative scene can lead us in the future events-wise."
For lack of a more social alternative, I do as the Sereno Hotels founder suggests. I turn on the reel-to-reel deck, press play, snack on the crisps from my welcome tray, and get lost to the shapeshifting tape the team has mastered for the stay. Before I know it, it's 3 AM, the twinkling lights on the waves outside the only sign of life left around me. As Contreras warns, "the thing is just there, spinning in the background — it's hypnotizing." Guess it's done its job, then.
