This is a jewel in Lake Como's hotel scene and frankly quite out of my budget, but I couldn't resist popping in for lunch to explore. I'm so glad I did because it's a destination in and of itself.  It's an absolute must-see! The Welcome Sitting prettily like precious stones on a necklace, grand hotels dotted along Lake Como take us back in time. Many are renovated private villas with sprawling, manicured gardens. Villa D’Este is a grand estate in Cernobbio that served as a female convent in the 15th century and summer palace to the British Queen Caroline of Brunswick in the 1800’s. It can’t simply be described as a hotel: it’s a destination in and of itself. The former queen’s...

The Welcome You know you can’t go wrong staying at any hotel in the world run by the Relais & Chateaux group - and no, they haven’t paid me to say that. Whether it’s the property tucked in the mountains of Glion, Switzerland, or the sprawling resort ideal for a long weekend in Sri Lanka, each experience is unique and luxurious. I personally love this chain. So when social media darling and fashion designer Tamara Al Gabbani told me the Hotel Caesar Augustus in Capri, Italy is one of her fave spots in the world, I wasn’t surprised to see that it’s under the golden umbrella of the Relais & Chateaux group.   When people say a hotel has the ‘best sea...

I love to get the inside track on favourite hotels directly from the locals. It doesn't get more local than chatting to the editor of The Local, an English-language news site on all things Italy. My longtime friend, the inimitable Angela Giuffrida, shares exclusively with Holidays in Heels a review of Hotel Virgilio in Orvieto, Umbria :) Hi Angela! <3 Orvieto is a charming hilltop town perched on a cliff of red volcanic rock in Umbria, Italy. The town is full of good two and three-star hotels, usually family-run businesses which have been nurtured over the years with tender care - Hotel Virgilio is one of them. The three-star boutique hotel is the only one in the medieval town located on Piazza...