Lake Como, Italy - Hotel Terminus

View of Lake Como from my room at the Hotel Terminus

 I just recently arrived in Lake Como for my first official business trip with my new job. Yes, that's right, I am actually getting paid right now to be in this magnificent place! I came to Como to meet with one of the biggest textile printers in the area. Their list of top-name clients, in both fashion and interior design, is thoroughly impressive. I actually saw next season's Roberto Cavalli fabric being created in front of my eyes on one of the printing machines; how exciting to think that when I walk in the shop in a few months it will actually be hanging on the rack in the form of a dress!

I'm staying at a lovely hotel called Hotel Terminus, a restored 19th century building smack on the lake. Thanks to my new friends at the factory, who are very close with the owner of the hotel, I received a wonderful upgrade to a deluxe room (Room 222) overlooking both Piazza Cavour (I'm literally above the famous Pasticceria Monti) and the lake. The room has beautiful hardwood floors, spacious marble bathroom with a tub and an overhead rain shower, a queen-sized bed, a walk-in closet and some really cool sepia colored photos of villas from the area printed above the headboard directly on the wall.  Judging from the hotel website, many of the rooms below the deluxe level are not nearly as nice, so keep that in mind when booking so you are not disappointed. You may also want to be on a higher floor to avoid the noise of the piazza and the main road. The location, however, could not be any more central.

The facade of the Hotel Terminus

My deluxe room overlooking Piazza Cavour and the lake

One of my closest Italian friends, who lives in Milan, took the train up to Como (about half an hour) to surprise me for lunch! I will be attending her wedding in Venice the last weekend of August, so stay tuned for lots of blog posts from that upcoming trip. We had a lovely lunch at the hotel on their outdoor terrace overlooking the lake, called Bar delle Terme. The waiters tell me George Clooney lunches here often. As it was quite hot today, we opted for a light lunch consisting of prosciutto and melon, and a caprese salad with absolutely delicious and creamy mozzarella and beautifully cut tomatoes.

Prosciutto and melon

Caprese salad with fresh buffalo mozzarella and tomatoes

Doesn't get much more picturesque than this!