Lefay Resort & Spa Lago di Garda

Above Gargnano, on the western shore of Lake Garda, the hillside was once terraced for lemons, and the stone pillars of the old limonaie still stand among the olive trees. Lefay Resort & Spa Lago di Garda opened there in 2008 on 11 hectares of that slope, built by the Leali family, whose head, Alcide Leali, had founded the regional airline Air Dolomiti.

History

Alcide Leali created Air Dolomiti in Verona in 1989 and sold it to Lufthansa in the early 2000s. The family then put its money into a different kind of travel and chose the hill above Gargnano, a village on the Brescia side of the lake with a history of lemon growing that goes back centuries. The resort opened in the summer of 2008 and was planned from the first as a spa resort rather than a hotel with a spa attached. A second house, Lefay Resort & Spa Dolomiti, opened at Pinzolo in Trentino in 2019.

Architecture and design

The buildings are low and follow the slope, in local stone, wood and glass, so that the resort reads from the lake as a set of terraces rather than a block. Every suite faces the water. The park keeps the olive trees and the lemon pillars and adds paths, a running track and a garden laid out for the spa's programme, with stations named after the elements of classical Chinese medicine. The resort was built to use little energy and recovers its heat and water, which was unusual on the lake when it opened.

Rooms and suites

There are 93 suites, all with a balcony or terrace on the lake. The smaller ones are junior suites; the larger have separate sitting rooms, and a few at the top of the scale have their own pool or spa area. The materials are the same as in the public rooms, with wood floors, linen and stone bathrooms.

Dining

La Grande Limonaia is the main restaurant, named after the lemon houses and glazed like one, with a terrace facing the lake. The cooking is Mediterranean and includes a line of dishes designed for guests on the spa programmes. Trattoria La Vigna, among the vines, serves a shorter menu of Lombard and Garda dishes. The pool bar serves lunch in summer.

Wellness

The spa covers 3,700 square metres and is the reason the resort exists. The Lefay SPA Method combines classical Chinese medicine with Western practice, and guests arrive for programmes of several days built around a consultation with the resort's doctors. There are five pools, among them a heated infinity pool outside and an indoor-outdoor saltwater pool called La Luna nel Lago, a set of saunas and steam rooms, and the park garden with its outdoor stations for the programme. Treatments use the resort's own product line.

Weddings and events

The resort has meeting rooms for company events and takes weddings in the park, with the ceremony on the terraces above the lake and the dinner at La Grande Limonaia or outside. The spa makes it a venue for incentive groups as much as for celebrations.

Location

Gargnano is on the western shore of Lake Garda, about 15 km north of Salò and 20 km south of Limone, on the lake road. Verona airport is the nearest, about 90 minutes by car; Brescia Montichiari and Bergamo are alternatives. Desenzano del Garda station, on the Milan to Venice line, is about an hour away by road, and Brescia station a little more. The resort is open through the year, with the lake at its warmest in July and August. For a luxury hotel in Gargnano, the resort is self-contained, with the village and its harbour a drive down the hill.