Lido Palace

When Alberto Cecchetto remade the Lido Palace in 2011, he brought glass and steel into a Liberty-style hotel of 1899, to let in the light and open it to the lake and the mountains. The house was built for royalty and the upper crust, and it got them: Gabriele D'Annunzio stayed, and so did King Vittorio Emanuele III. It stands in a centuries-old garden on the lakefront at Riva del Garda, at the north end of Lake Garda, with the Brenta Dolomites behind the town. The rooms to ask for are the Sky suites on the top floor, which face the water; the Sky Presidential runs to 120 square metres and sleeps four. The Terrace Studio gives up the full view for a terrace with sunbeds and the lake off to one side, which on a hot afternoon is the better bargain.

Recommended for couples who want a spa with a lake attached, and for families content with a babysitter in place of a kids' club. Cento11, the spa, covers 1,500 square metres, with heated pools indoors and out and a Finnish sauna run up to 98°C; under-14s are kept out of the heat and the gym, but may swim until half past five. The hotel arranges private boats, sail or motor, and bikes from electric to racing for the hills. Lunch belongs on the Bar & Bistrot's terrace over the water, which goes on mixing cocktails until midnight; dinner at the Lido Restaurant, contemporary Italian with local roots, is from seven and must be booked. The Turkish bath has a protocol: fifteen minutes in the steam, thirty seconds in cold water, then at least twenty minutes of doing nothing at all, the one step nobody needs telling twice.