Standing on Grand Hotel Victoria’s ample lawn in Menaggio, on the banks of glimmering Lake Como, I think about the Blue Mind philosophy and how often the simple sight, sound, smell, and translucent nature of water has healed and comforted me throughout my life. There, in front of this Belle Epoch grand hotel, all I need do is stand close enough to the storied lake to feel its curative power.
That’s no surprise. According to my friend, marine biologist Wallace J. Nichols, author of the best-selling Blue Mind: The Surprising Science That Shows How Being Near, In, On, or Under Water Can Make You Happier, Healthier, More Connected, and Better at What You Do—a must read for anyone seeking wellness—water has drawn people, animals, and all living things since the beginning of time. Just think how quickly we relax beside water, the way its rhythmic movements can hypnotize us, and its sounds lull us to sleep. As Nichols points out in his book, water positively affects our immune system, boosts our health, and re-edifies our soul. “Water quiets all the noise, all the distractions, and connects you to your own thoughts,” he writes. Perhaps as Nichols posits, water has the ability to “heal what’s broken.”
“The 12,000-square-foot Erre Spa is the pièce-de-résistance, establishing Grand Hotel Victoria as a wellness destination in itself.”
So, I test this theory—Blue Minding—gazing at northern Italy’s most transportive lake, Y-shaped Como, a watery vision scooped into the foothills of the Alps. The setting might be enough to nourish me, but thankfully the spectacular Grand Hotel Victoria looms behind me like a portal to take Blue Mind-based tranquility to deeper realms.
Recently re-imagined, re-polished, and relaunched with contemporary Italian flair by R Collection, a Como-based, family-owned hotel group, the Grand Hotel Victoria offers an abundance of luxurious options with its large pool, clever restaurants, and myriad off-site activities. But its water-themed, 12,000-square-foot Erre Spa is the pièce-de-résistance, establishing the hotel as a wellness destination in itself.
Within Erre Spa
Inside subterranean Erre Spa’s sanctuary, a haven of pools, saunas, cold plunges, and more, I sit in the Silent Room. This restorative nook has walls sheathed in living moss. Blissfully, I stretch out in a lounge chair and simply breathe. Beautiful to behold, like finding a hidden section of a storybook garden, the room exudes peacefulness. Its euphoria coming partly from the profound quietude, but also from the living moss’s capability to lower stress, detoxify, and increase oxygen. I call that—with apologies to Nichols—Green Mind, rather like forest bathing indoors.
But the Silent Room is only one of the salubrious options to be experienced in Erre’s sanctum of wellbeing. Multiple treatment chambers and an extensive spa menu invite—with options from chocolate or pepper body rituals to facials by Biologique Recherche. I’m intrigued by some of the unique edits, such as a parent-child treatment in the couples room (“Chilling with Mommy or Daddy”), which I wish spas had offered when my kids were small.
Nevertheless, Erre Spa’s star power manifests most of all in its wellness common area, a place all hotel guests can enjoy at their own pace. It brims with stations and options. Step into a Kneipp Path, swim in the 20-meter long pool, tiptoe through the chromotherapy and aromatherapy showers, warm up in the jacuzzis, meditate in the Silent Room, ruminate in the Fire Room, shiver in the Ice Room, be drenched by the overhead icy water bucket, heat up in the saunas (including a Himalayan salt outpost)—or just sleep, bathrobe enwrapped, in a comfy chair.
Wellness Outdoors
Taking advantage of of its lakeside setting to take wellness outdoors, Grand Hotel Victoria offers a bevy of nature-immersive activities that complement spa time and in-house hotel activities. Enjoy water activities, as well as on-shore fun including kitesurfing, biking, horseback riding, and golf at R Collection’s mountainside course.
Becca Hensley
Becca Hensley is Editor at Large for Insider's Guide to Spas. Based in Austin, she writes regularly about travel and spas. She believes a good story draws you in like laughter in a crowded room, and challenges you to do it justice. Her work appears regularly in Austin Monthly, Travel Channel, Toronto Star and National Geographic Traveler.