Today we introduce you to one of Switzerland’s hidden luxury gems: Castello del Sole, a Rebecca Recommends exclusive property and a new member of Leading Hotels of the World. This seasonal, five-star resort set on the Lake Maggiore waterfront embraces a bird sanctuary, a botanical garden, and an orchard to create a magical retreat for special moments. With boutique-style hospitality and understated luxury, this is a truly special place where space and time are redefined, and where one is invited to enjoy the sweetness of doing nothing.

Just 90 minutes from Milan, the expansive, lakefront farming estate offers your discerning clients an experience that rivals the finest properties in Lake Como or Portofino, while providing a refreshing alternative to more frequented destinations. Nestled within a 345-acre park featuring one of Europe’s largest hotel gardens, Castello del Sole provides a distinctive sense of place. With luxurious accommodations, culinary prowess, and exquisite equestrian facilities where one may even holiday with their own horse, your most astute clients will find all manner of indulgence. From the Michelin-starred restaurant, Locanda Barbarossa, which sources its ingredients from its working farm, to Tre Stagioni offering seasonal cuisine, and Al Parco Restaurant for al fresco luncheons, to a veritable wellness world within the spa, Castello del Sole is an unprecedented blend of riches. 

For those visiting in the summer months, there’s a special opportunity to attend the renowned JazzAscona festival, held annually at the end of June into the first week of July. The festival is dedicated to New Orleans, with whom Ascona is a sister city. As the only large European festival offering full immersion into New Orleans’ music, culture, and cuisine, the popular event draws a large audience each year, thanks to its holiday ambiance and rich programming. Some 200 free concerts take place over 10 days, within a backdrop of spectacular mountain and lake scenery. From midday to late into the evening, your music-loving travelers can enjoy New Orleans jazz, swing, blues, R&B, gospel, and soul on several stages along the lakefront, as well as in bars, restaurants, and piazzas throughout the picturesque town of Ascona and along the captivating Via Borgo. Ascona is an easy walk or bike ride from Castello del Sole and with its candy-colored facades and swaying palm trees, has an unmistakable Mediterranean vibe.

Ultimate Relaxation at Ticino’s Most Spacious Spa

The generously sized Castello SPA & Beauty Center (Ticino’s most spacious spa) features an indoor/outdoor pool complex, private spa suites, and innovative treatments incorporating ingredients from the estate’s herb garden. Guests unwind in full view of the park and the rolling hills, transported into a reverie.

To achieve a whole-body experience, the spa also includes a bio sauna, Finnish sauna, Turkish bath, Kneipp path, hydro-pool with more than 750 massage jets, gym and fitness room, beauty treatment and hairdresser services, massages, whirlpool, and exercise pool. The spa gift shop is stocked with the exclusive Valmont line of products that are used for treatments, as well as Kinetics products.

The expansive Spa Suite Onsernone is for those who take their spa experiences seriously, with a tranquil park view and the opportunity for a private wellness oasis. The suite includes a sauna, Turkish bath, whirlpool, ice fountain, rain shower, ergonomic heated stone loungers, sunbathing terrace, fresh fruit and seasonal smoothies, couples massage, champagne upon request, and more.

For those seeking more active pursuits, a variety of options are available at an additional cost, including tennis, cliff diving, wakeboarding, hydrofoil, archery, and pony-riding lessons.

Expansive Suites for the Utmost Privacy

Designed to feel like home in Ascona, Castello del Sole’s 78 rooms and suites are located in three distinct buildings. Each is appointed with elegant furnishings and modern amenities and offers the intimate atmosphere your clients expect, coupled with the space they crave. Many suites feature private terraces overlooking Lake Maggiore or the estate’s vineyards, welcoming the outdoors in. This is the chance to feel like you’re living on a private country estate in the heart of Ticino – with all the little niceties that pamper you, from a minibar stocked with specialties from the property’s Cantina alla Maggia winery to cozy bathrobes and slippers.

The private Retreat Pavilion is an architectural jewel in the Lombardy country house style. Suites are set around an inner courtyard with a gorgeous rose garden, and accommodations offer views of the surrounding rice fields. Each oasis of peace and beauty offers Mediterranean furnishings, terracotta floors, expansive windows, and a spacious terrace.

For those who can never be too close to a spa, request a suite in the Wellness Pavilion, which also houses the property’s soothing Castello SPA & Beauty facilities. These accommodations are particularly spacious, with cool terracotta floors and windows overlooking the estate’s greenery, enhancing one’s ability to take a deep breath and let go. 

The main building has a variety of room types from which to choose, all just steps from the well-tended park that leads to a private beach on Lake Maggiore. Several of the timelessly elegant accommodations offer a balcony, and all are awash with Mediterranean colors and lightness.

Indulgent Dining

Dining is a true highlight of the Castello del Sole experience, starting with the Locanda Barbarossa, a gourmet restaurant with 18 Gault & Millau points and one Michelin star. Chef Mattias Roock, together with Leopold Ott and the maître de salle Sergio Bassi, draws from the estate garden and the Cantina alla Maggia to present a wealth of products and flavors. The menu – “Sapori del Nostro Orto” – entices diners with an unforgettable taste journey through the fields and gardens of Ticino. 

Set within arched stone walls, Tre Stagioni offers three seasons of changing culinary delights under the direction of Daniele Sardella and Mattias Roock. Start the day with a rich and varied breakfast buffet inside the elegant dining room or on the sunny terrace, or at night, enjoy an exquisite a la carte menu. 

During the summer months, the Al Parco Restaurant opens its doors for sophisticated al fresco luncheons of antipasti and salads, grilled meats and fish, pizzas and pasta, and tempting desserts. The pizza dough is particularly special, made with wheat flour from Terreni all Maggia, grown in the fields around the resort. 

Guests may raise a glass to life and holidays with a cocktail or an after-dinner drink at the atmospheric bar or in the courtyard of the Cortile Barbarossa. Alternatively, they can slip away to the artfully designed Bassa Selim Bar, immersing themselves in the setting of Mozart’s The Abduction from the Seraglio. 

Castello del Sole is surrounded by the vineyards of Cantina alla Maggia, part of the same estate. Oenophiles must take the opportunity to explore or to pop into Enoteca Alimentare, located right in front of the vineyards – the ideal place to taste the vinery’s own products and carefully chosen Ticino specialties alongside cheese, cold cuts, and locally sourced snacks.

Signature Experiences

Guests of Castello del Sole can participate in exclusive activities such as private wine tastings from the estate’s vineyards, cooking classes with Michelin-starred chefs, or helicopter tours of the Alps. The property’s own rice fields – the northernmost in Europe – have a fascinating agricultural story to share. Learn about the amazing whisky aged for over 10 years from the estate’s own barley and a gin refined with the yuzu fruit, which the team was the first to grow successfully in Ticino. 

Riding enthusiasts are welcome with their four-legged friends to Phili la Scuderia, just two minutes from the hotel. It’s the ideal equine setting with airy stables, an outdoor and indoor training area, and a wide choice of rides along the banks of the Maggia River. Guests are invited to bask in the amenities of the hotel while their horse receives five-star care. Horse enthusiasts who do not have their own horse are welcome to visit the beautiful horse stables and partake in pony-riding lessons or Shetland pony walking. 

Other exquisite moments …

• • A private aperitif on the water in the estate’s elegant Frauscher 1017 Lido boat, immersing one in the breathtaking scenery of Lake Maggiore as the sun paints the lake in warm colors. Choose a favorite spot on the lake, be it Minusio, Gambarogno, or the Brissago Islands. 
  • Spectacular birdwatching in the nature and bird reserve adjacent to Castello del Sole’s parkland, observing local and migratory birds in a unique alluvial landscape with passionate ornithologist Pietro Teichert.
  • A romantic gourmet picnic in the garden, complete with a basket brimming with local delicacies such as Valle Maggia cheese, Ticino salami, freshly baked bread, Cantina alla Maggia wine, and fruits and vegetables from the garden.
  • A VIP arrival on Lake Maggiore, where Castello del Sole’s skipper will pick up guests at the port of Locarno (conveniently located across from the train station) and whisk them across the lake to the resort in their Frauscher 1017 Lido boat, complete with a glass of chilled sparkling wine from their own vineyards.
    

A Special Welcome to Families

Little kids in fluffy robes, tiny hands digging in the garden … Castello del Sole not only welcomes families with children but makes sure young ones feel as pampered as their parents. The expansive parkland lends itself to hand-in-hand strolls, impromptu games of tag, and hide-and-seek. More structured, professionally supervised activities are available at Club Ragazzi, which welcomes children from the age of 3 each day at no charge, with hours varying with the seasons. From coloring and drawing in the park to the Kids SPA to guided Shetland pony rides around the property, they experience new adventures every day.

Families may wish to reserve a connected Loggia Master Suite and Loggia Suite in the Retreat Pavilion, the Wellbeing Luxury Two-Bedroom Master Suite (with occupancy for six guests) in the Wellbeing Pavilion, or two suites in the Main Building, just steps from the private beach on Lake Maggiore. 

A Magical Retreat for Special Moments

Castello del Sole shines as either a destination unto itself or as part of a broader Italian itinerary. The resort is easily accessible from Milan’s Malpensa Airport (90 minutes) or Lugano Airport (45 minutes), making it an ideal complement to Lake Como, Milan, or other northern Italian destinations.

The estate is particularly ideal for couples seeking a romantic escape with Michelin-starred dining, families desiring space and privacy alongside engaging activities, wellness enthusiasts looking for an immersive health retreat, and food and wine connoisseurs interested in learning the agricultural origins of their sustenance. 

Castello del Sole is a seasonal resort, typically open from April through October. Springtime brings the blooming of 150,000 irises in the garden, summer promises private beach access and water sports on sparkling Lake Maggiore, and fall means rice and grape harvests, always immersing guests in the ebb and flow of the seasons in southern Switzerland.

Expand the Swiss Experience with Alex Lake Zürich

For your client seeking a broader Swiss getaway, consider combining a stay at Alex Lake Zürich with a countryside escape at Castello del Sole. This two-destination itinerary is incredibly easy for the enriching experience it provides. From Zürich, guests may take the two-hour train to Locarno, enjoying magnificent views en route. They’re met by the Castello del Sole team at the platform to assist with luggage and transportation, then if they wish, be whisked across the lake via Frausher 1017 Lido boat, with a glass of champagne in hand. 

While staying at the Alex Lake Zürich city and waterside resort, guests may take advantage of private boat rides into the heart of the city for date nights of Michelin-starred cuisine at La Rôtisserie in sister hotel Storchen Zürich and The Widder Restaurant in sister hotel Widder Zürich or across the lake for a very special private dining experience at The Buech.

Special Advisor Benefits 

Allow Rebecca Recommends to put you in touch with the team at Castello del Sole to take advantage of a dedicated luxury travel advisor liaison, priority upgrade consideration for your clients, an exclusive commission structure, and FAM trip opportunities. 

For your most discerning clients who seek extraordinary experiences beyond the expected luxury destinations, Castello del Sole offers an unparalleled blend of Swiss sophistication and Mediterranean dolce vita.