Castello del Sole

The "Garden of Eden" - a true love story

“True Luxury is priceless and the Castello del Sole is a class of its own.“ You can find this sentence on the hotel’s website and being familiar with Marketing und Sales we initially thought to ourselves: „Well, isn’t that what everybody would claim?“ But in the case of Castello del Sole it’s no exaggeration, it is perfectly true!

„THE CASTELLO WAY OF LIVING. A totally unique definition of space and time in harmony with nature. A feeling about life that will lend you wings and promises to give you precisely what you want in your own free time – and even a bit more.“

After the two days we were able to spend at the Castello del Sole, all our expectations, although quite high, have been surpassed! The hotel offers incredible space and time and a unique form of luxury that makes us feel comfortable at all times, combined with warmth and affection providing for a family-like atmosphere which makes us forget the world around us.

„100 hectares of pure happiness. And a million reasons to come back, time and time again.“ Indeed, we could easily list a million reasons, but as we don’t want to miss the spa we would like to focus on some highlights. 🙂

When entering the Castello’s property driving through a beautiful long avenue, it immediately feels like coming home.

Mr and Mrs T's Model S at the hotel driveway

Hotel Director Simon Valentin Jenni personally welcomes each and every guest when arriving in front of the hotel. „It is the same as if you would welcome your guests in your home. You would not wait until they have entered the door, but you welcome them right at the doorstep as they arrive.“ he says.

Our luggage is immediately taken care of while Franco (the hotels chauffeur) is already cleaning our Tesla’s windshield. All 3 T’s feel absolutely welcome and could not be any happier.

A magical picturesque garden – painted by nature

Our new hotel life starts in a beautiful Retreat Loggia Suite. Its huge dressing room offers more than enough space for all our luggage and the suite feels actually more like a mediterranean villa. We are having a glas of chilled Prosecco combined with tenderly melting macaroons and home made „friandises“. And take a look at the welcome letter – we are speechless. What a great start – heavenly!

Mrs T in the retreat loggia suite

In front of our terrace extends the „Garden of Eden“: 100 hectare of the most wonderful nature, hidden angles, various flowering shrubs, a symmetrical laid out apple orchard, waddling ducks, colorful bird’s twittering, various kind of flowers, dreamy reading corners and perfectly designed deckchairs. At the private beach with direct access to the clear water of the „Lago Maggiore“ the hotel offers various water sport equipment. In front of the lake there is also a beach bar where hotel guests can enjoy a cocktail and snacks. As we get closer, Samuele who is managing the bar invites us to linger as long as we like. „I will keep the bar open for you. It is my personal philosophy and pleasure to make our guest feel home.“ And to us it feels just like that – HOME.

Mr T sitting in apple orchard

Why roam so far afield?

As of today there seems to be no more reason to travel huge distances in order to find the special treatment which fills our batteries immediately. The Boutique-Hotel Castello del Sole in Ascona offers it all. Attention to detail and nature is key and reflected in every aspect of the hotel.

Local products play a major role in the hotel’s concept and thanks to the associated estate Terreni alla Maggia and the hotel’s garden, Castello del Sole can even offer a menu which is based on their own field crops (il menu I sapori del nostro orto), 24 different homemade jams as well as own rice and polenta… Not to forget about their own wines which also taste excellent.

This leads us to the next reason why we want to come back – Mattias Roock, the young and very pleasant chef de cuisine prepares the finest magical dishes for us at the famous hotel restaurant Locanda Barbarossa.

Mr T and chef de cuisine Mattias Roock

No wonder he managed to receive a Michelin star and 17 Gault Millau points in no time! We can literally feel that he is cooking with true passion and excitement, loving the hotel as much as we do. Mattias credo is simple: quality above quantity, or as he calls it „software is more important than hardware“. He shares this opinion with both, the hotel director and us. Many staff members have been working at the Castello for decades knowing the hotel as much as its long-standing regular guests. This is another reason for the extraordinary personal service.

And – as is often the case – it is a small detail which makes the difference. While there was a choice of about 12 varieties of jam at the breakfast buffet, Mr T only briefly mentioned in a subordinate clause that he could not find his favorite „strawberry“. Make a guess – the next morning Mattias made sure that a fresh glas of homemade strawberry jam was available at the breakfast buffet (Mr T was in heaven). Very attentive and much appreciated.

From sunbeams and more attention to detail

The way to a man’s heart is not only through his stomach. Love is equally demonstrated by a general attention to detail. Across the whole building (which is quite tall and spaciously laid out) we regularly find beautiful bouquets and small tasty treats while we discover the Castello del Sole logo in various exceptional places. The logo is even integrated in the very tasty traditional hotel dessert – the meringue reminds at the sun.

Our room offers anything we could possibly wish for: a high quality coffee machine, warmed towels and even an iPad style service tablet. Mrs T’s yoga mat could have stayed at home given the hotel also offers yoga classes at the spa. A well equipped gym is also available, but Mr T did not bother this time. 🙂 The spa is the perfect place to relax and while there was some rain during our stay we enjoyed the sauna as well as the indoor/outdoor pool almost exclusively. And again, the sun was shining our way on every bath towel.

spa lobby

The hotel has been continuously expanded and modernized over time. Everything fits well together and while we typically prefer a puristic modern design, in this case the architects did a great job and achieved an aesthetic mix of the traditional and modern side of the Castello del Sole.

The hotel is well prepared for the future and the next generation of guests. Also our Tesla is taken good care of and enjoys free destination charging and an exclusive covered parking lot. And should your car require a „shower“ or any other treatment, Franco is always ready to deliver.

Sovereign generosity and true love

We have travelled a lot and experienced many different hotels. The Castello del Sole however conquered our hearts in only two days, excellently demonstrating the supreme art of hospitality.

Our departure feels almost harder than leaving our beloved flat at home and this fact tells more than a thousand words.

It will be quite challenging for all the other hotels on our route to exceed this special feeling. Only very rarely have we experienced such a generosity, openness and passion! The benchmark is set quite high, but as we leave this wonderful paradise, we are looking forward to fall in love again and to find more gems like the Castello del Sole where the sun was our permanent companion.

Thank you so much for an unforgettable weekend!

In love

Mr & Mrs T on tour

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