For 50 years, the De Santis family has owned Lake Como’s iconic Grand Hotel Tremezzo. Now the jewel in the crown is the family’s latest passion project, Passalacqua, which has been hailed the World’s Best Hotel. And it’s no surprise once you’ve met third-generation hotelier, Valentina. Her unstuffy and genuinely welcoming take on Italian family hospitality shines in everything she does, which has us dreaming of life by the lake...
Name: Valentina De Santis
Your home base: I am a lucky one, Lake Como!
Aside from a passport, the three items you always travel with: My phone, to be connected and to take pictures of everything I like. My camera for trips that I want to keep in my memory forever. And of course some drawings and messages from my adored kids, which makes me feel close to them even when I physically am not.
Your perfect meal on the road: I adore all food while I travel, I always try and make sure it is local and authentic so that I can taste the roots and be fully immersed in the culture of the place that I’m visiting.
The best thing you’ve read in the last six months: What We Owe - a book written by a dear Swedish friend of mine, Golnaz Hashemzadeh, that touches the concept of motherhood and mothering very deeply - a theme specially dear to me, particularly in this stage of my life.
The one place you’ve been that you think everyone should visit, and why: New York, just because I think it is totally impossible not to fall crazily in love with it.
The one place you’ll always return to, no matter how many times: Puglia, it has such a special place in my heart and I love it as much in summer as in winter.
The one Never-Have-I-Ever destination that you hope to visit, and why: The list is long and includes Peru, India, Tibet. I have a magnetic pull to each of these places, especially due to their incredible cultures, which I would love to dive deeply into.
The one thing that most surprised you on your last trip: How much I love to travel - every time I travel it surprises me more and more!
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What did your “This is What I’m Going to Do” moment look like? I think it started when I was at primary school. I was asked to write an essay about myself as a grown up - what I pictured myself doing - and it started with me in my father’s office, taking care of anything and everything to do with hotels. It took a while for me to officially make the decision and move into the hotel world, but I am sure it has always been embedded in my DNA!
How would you describe a typical day? There is no typical day for me as everyday looks different, this is one of the things that makes my job (can I call it a job?) so incredibly fantastic!
What is your favourite part of what you do? It is that I am totally and unconditionally in love with what I do.
Favourite spot at Passalacqua? You know what? The secret is that at both Grand Hotel Tremezzo and Passalacqua, every spot is a favourite spot. Every corner has a story to tell because so much passion and love has gone into every single detail.
You mention “dolce far niente” when you describe Passalacqua – can you tell us a little more? Passalacqua epitomises timeless pleasure - where incredible new memories are created, where pace of life slows down, and where there is celebration of beautiful, simple things, restored and renewed from a previous time.
Share with us one of your favourite snap-shots/postcard photos from 2023. So sorry for this, I know I am totally bias but I cannot pick anything other than Lake Como - this is one of my ever favourite snap-shots. Every time I take the same photo…
