A slice of Lake Como hospitality history has changed form. The former Hotel Miralago in Cernobbio has been reborn as Miralago Luxury Apartments — eight private residences overlooking the water, developed by Villa d'Este La Collezione, the group behind one of Italy's most storied hotels just along the shore.
Milan-based Studio Droulers Architecture led the conversion, taking cues from the grand historic villas that dot the lake while keeping the look firmly contemporary. The palette reads like the view itself: creams, pale blues and natural woods echoing the water, sky and greenery outside. Vintage pieces and natural materials are layered in so the apartments feel lived-in rather than staged — a deliberate contrast to the polished show-home approach.
Textiles carry much of the character. The project worked with Dedar, the Italian fabric house, and pulled from an unusually expressive range. Young Nureyev, a fire-retardant velvet with a dense, compact pile, brings quiet lustre to upholstery and curtains. Lilaz layers artisanal screen-printed motifs — hills, cascades, Japanese clouds — over a textural panama weave, with gilt accents that nod to Art Déco. Striped sartorial weaves Regimen and Alumnus borrow their look from fine neckties, while Sansone is a washable, hard-wearing velvet woven on silk-velvet looms for extra softness. Be Bop A Lula, a colour-forward jacquard, adds a livelier note inspired by shirt-making and music.
For travellers, the appeal is straightforward: this is a way to stay on Lake Como with the privacy of an apartment and the pedigree of a hotel group that knows the area intimately. Cernobbio itself is a smart base — quieter than Bellagio, walkable, and home to Villa d'Este and the Villa Erba exhibition grounds. From here you can hop across the lake by ferry, drive up to Menaggio or Tremezzo, or simply watch the water from a residence designed to frame it.
The conversion also reflects a wider shift at the top end of Italian travel: landmark properties being reworked into small collections of high-spec residences rather than large hotels. Fewer keys, more space, and design that treats the building's past as raw material rather than a constraint. If Como is on your list and you'd rather have a private terrace than a lobby, this kind of project is worth watching — and Miralago is one of the more graceful examples yet.
