Esplanade Tergesteo - Luxury Retreat

Esplanade Tergesteo has no course of its own, but it declares a link with golf: guests can book discounted green fees through the hotel, even before arriving, for Golf Club Padova (27 holes), Montecchia (27 holes) and Frassanelle (18 holes), all reachable, the hotel says, in a few minutes by car. The staff handle the tee times. For clubs in other provinces the hotel lists agreements with Colli Berici (Vicenza), Cà della Nave (Venice), Villa Condulmer and Cà Amata (Treviso).

The Golf Experience package starts at 4 nights on gourmet half board: with 3 weekday green fees of your choice (4 or 5 nights), with the same 3 green fees plus a wellness voucher worth 180 euros per person, or with 5 green fees from 6 nights. A golf gadget is included.

Locally, Golf della Montecchia opened in 1988 to a design by Tom Macauley and has hosted several editions of the Challenge Tour and Alps Tour. Golf Club Padova dates from 1962 and is the city's oldest, with three 9-hole loops by John D. Harris and Marco Croze.

The hotel is led by Patricia Gruber, a young hotelier of Austrian origin, who also picks the contemporary art on show in the public areas personally: it includes Dominia by Giannelli, colours by Fortuna and Murgia and a curled-up figure by Rabarama in the outdoor area. A stone Buddha greets guests at the entrance.

Rooms come in three lines. Room & Suite PLUS includes the SPA Suite PLUS with a mini pool on the terrace, Finnish sauna and wood-burning fireplace in the room, plus the Junior Suite, Suite and Room. The Vital line runs from the Vital Room to the Vital SPA Suite, with a private Finnish sauna and hot mini pool on the terrace. Suite, Deluxe and Basic complete the range.

Included services cover the panoramic Fit54 gym with Technogym equipment, free city bikes and e-bikes (limited availability), covered and open-air parking and a 24-hour front desk.

The White Pool, the outdoor pool, is all white and linked to the indoor pool: it has a lagoon with loungers at the water's edge, a slow river with a current, hydromassage spots and, in the evening, a central fireplace rising from the water. Temperature is kept at 35-36 °C, lowered to 33 in summer. There is also the H2O3 Pool, with thermal water and ozone microbubbles, and the Emotion Zone sauna area, open from age 14.

RoofTop54 is the panoramic spa, adults only from 16: a salt-water pool with a central fireplace and the Euganean Hills on the horizon, textile-free saunas with Aufguss rituals, a steam bath, an infrared sauna, a cold plunge pool and a Silence room meant for a digital detox. The pool and spa area is open every day until 11pm; departing guests can use it free until 1pm on check-out day.

Pepita Restaurant serves Italian cooking between regional tradition and international influences, with two à la carte menus: Pepita Today, which changes daily, and the seasonal Signature. Fresh pasta, bread and breadsticks are made in-house and the wine list runs from local labels to great Champagnes. It is open to outside guests too; the dress code is smart casual or elegant.

Breakfast, the Long Breakfast, runs from 7.30 to 11.30 with a live-cooking corner. Next to the pools Bistrò54 is open from 11am to 11pm, while the Gold Bar is the hotel's cocktail bar.

Check-in is from 3.30pm and check-out by 11am. For bookings on its official website the hotel states a best-rate guarantee and, with half board, dinner included. On request it arranges guided excursions, transfers and a personal shopper.

• A fireplace in the water. Both the White Pool and the RoofTop54 pool have a central fireplace burning in the water.
• An art gallery. The hotel describes itself as an art gallery: the works are hand-picked by its owner.
• Digital detox. The RoofTop54 Silence room alternates the crackle of logs with silence and, on some occasions, hosts rituals with harp, Tibetan and crystal bowls.
• A sauna with a show. The panoramic Finnish sauna at RoofTop54 hosts frequent Aufguss rituals with music and essential oils.