Villa e Palazzo Aminta

According to the hotel, nine golf clubs within reach of Stresa are affiliated with it, and the concierge handles green-fee bookings. The two nearest, 5 kilometres away, could hardly be more different: Golf des Iles Borromées is an 18-hole, par 72, while Golf Club Alpino is a par 69 nine-holer. Golf & Sporting Club Verbania, a par 34 nine, completes the local trio.

Further out are longer layouts: Castelconturbia with 18 + 9 holes and a par of 73, Villa la Motta and Varese with 18 each, and across the Swiss border Golf Club Patriziale Ascona, an 18-hole par 71. For a quick nine there are also Piandisole and Arona.

The hotel publishes neither golf packages nor the terms of its club agreements, so ask when you book.

The villa was built in 1872 as the private home of merchant Edoardo Horst. In 1886 it passed to Giacomo della Torre, known as Santiago, and in 1950 it became a hotel. Since the 2000s the Zanetta family, today Beatrice, Roberto and Daniela, has restored it.

At its centre is the Italian Patio, with Venetian terrazzo floors and marble columns. Rooms face either the century-old park or the lake and the Borromean Islands, with balcony or terrace; suites include the Belvedere, La Borromea and the Liz Taylor Suite, while Villa Amintina holds a serviced apartment and Deluxe rooms.

The hotel has a private pier for motorboat excursions, a free shuttle on a fixed timetable to central Stresa, private parking and an EV charger. Milan Malpensa is 45 km away.

Off the course, the concierge books tickets for Palazzo Borromeo on Isola Bella and for Isola Madre, as well as the Villa Taranto Gardens. On the water there is sailing, wakeboarding and SUP, and bikes, electric ones included, can be hired for the climb into the Vergante hills.

There are two restaurants: Le Isole, the gourmet room, serving breakfast and dinner with a terrace over the lake, and I Mori, an Italian bistro mixing tradition and invention. I Principi bar handles aperitifs. On request the chefs prepare menus for coeliac, vegetarian and vegan guests.

The spa, Grotta Camelia, has a steam room, sensory showers and a hot tub, plus a fitness area. Of its four programmes, Wood Aromas is designed for before and after physical activity, which makes it a natural fit after 18 holes. Access depends on the rate booked, and non-residents can buy day packages.

• Named for a daughter: Giacomo della Torre dedicated the villa to his daughter Aminta, and the name stuck.
• An admiral's home: Aminta lived here with her husband, Admiral Francesco Capece, until 1939.
• A merchant's house first: the original owner, in 1872, was merchant Edoardo Horst.
• Lake to mountain: beyond golf, the hotel is a starting point for Mottarone and Val Grande National Park.