Active eco-sustenance with deep environmental consciousness is the future of progressive global hospitality. The grand luxury five star CastaDiva Resort & Spa on Lake Como in northern Italy amply personifies this essential credo.
By SMITA and KISHORE IYENGAR
Stand-alone splendor
On the panoramic and magical Alpine Lake Como in Italy is located its only five star luxury resort which was abandoned to neglect for almost fifty years. Once the home of the famous 19th century opera singer Giuditta Pasta who lived in the lavish opulence of the Villa Roccabruna, this historic estate was rebuilt according to the ‘Liberty Style’ of Italian luxury residential architecture in the early 1900s.
Located on the very shores of this grand lake with spectacular vistas, The CastaDiva Resort & Spa –the only eco-friendly five star luxury hospitality landmark, is a living hallmark of environment sensitivity and meets the highest standards of eco-sustainability, carefully integrated during its refurbishment and makeover.
The Casta Diva Resort & Spa in the lovely village of Blevio, only 5 km from Como consists of nine villas for a total of 77 rooms (73 rooms, 58 of them are suites and junior suites, and 2 private Villas), surrounded by a luxuriant lush botanical park that boasts age-old trees of different species over an area of approximately 26,000 sqm. Casta Diva is the first resort of Lake Como, the only eco-friendly resort of the area, opened after almost 10-year reconstruction reinvented by adopting solutions that fully respect the environment and meeting the highest standards of eco-sustainability. Each building fulfills the most stringent environmental criteria, in full harmony with the natural setting that surrounds it.
The Casta Diva is a unique new product, the ideal place for discerning visitors who seek to pamper themselves and replenish their minds and bodies in discreet privacy.
Choice of the right materials
To create and establish an environment of excellence in the internal and external areas of living, high quality materials have been liberally used. The highlights are the fabled silks of Como, Lombard terracotta, precious wood for the floors, marbles and stones for the finish of the entire compendium. The originality and naturalness of all these “natural” noble materials, appropriately combined together, create a result of elegance and sophistication to all the designated spaces.
Interiors
On the ground floor of the main Villa original wooden and marble floors have been totally restored, with a final treatment of oil that accentuates the preciousness of the designs and the original essence of the materials. All the floors of the suites, in the living rooms and in the bedrooms, are layered with seasoned oak and natural wood slats.
In some villas, such as Villa Norma, the living area has a floor in a special Venetian material, -grit marble expertly placed in a precise drawing and bound together with lime. Villa Violetta and the Restaurant L’Orangerie, have been layered with red and white Lombard terracotta.
The bathrooms have floors with several types of marble and local stone like Verona marble, green India marble, Black Emperador, Biancone, Travertine and Piasentina stone that create an exclusive character to each suite. In the bathrooms of Villa Dorabella and Villa Fiordiligi innovative slatted floors have been created with recycled aluminum foils. Even the Spa interiors have natural materials; the Wellness area has a paving of Cardoso stone and oak wood in the gym and inside some treatment rooms.
External
All the external pavings, -the driveway paths, the walkways and the outdoor terraces, have been layered with natural stones like Luserna stone, Antigorio gneiss, river pebbles and the porphyry. The coatings of the retaining walls of the paths and of the surrounding walls of the ground as well as the external vertical walls of Villa Fiordiligi, Villa Dorabella, Villa Leonora and Villa Amina are executed with Moltrasio stone derived from excavations and used both for the foundations of the buildings and the detachment from the rock, all sourced locally.
The coatings of the amphitheater and of the entrance of Villa Roccabruna are made with small sized river’s pebbles that lend a remarkable mosaic effect, embellishing the environment harmoniously.
Furniture of the suites
All the furnishings have been made with natural materials like various types of wood essence with different finishes like ‘golden leaf’, silver, walnut and oak. Villa Amina specially has living, bathroom, the living and entrance areas created with wood paneling in Kauri, an age-old wood sourced from fossil forests of New Zealand. The fabrics used for the upholstery of the chairs, of the sofas, of the bed bases, of some of the headboards and of the curtains are made entirely from natural fibers like cotton and silk, of which Italy has a tradition of recognized global excellence.
The ancient art of papier-mâché has been cleverly used like a fabric, to create decorative panels and the headboards of Villa Fiordiligi and the lamps to the Spa. The drive to create and sustain eco-feasibility of the resort elements is supported by plant and technical engineering choices that elevate the luxury resort’s position uniquely in effective eco sustainability.
– The functioning of the mechanical systems which allow the heating and cooling of the entire resort is guaranteed by a geothermic system that takes advantage of the water of the lake, drawn with pumps and directed to specific installations that optimize and save the energy required for their use.
– Other utilities such as the kitchens use electrical energy with the induction systems, thus avoiding the use of conventional energy sources such as methane gas.
The learning curve for all
The CastaDiva Resort & Spa’s high-end luxury definition translates into the highest levels of lifestyle comfort and sophistication with the employment of these eco-friendly practices, which ensures prominent guest recall. World famous celebrities and luminaries continue to flock to this haven of earthy decadence and quintessentially dynamic Italian chic in world class hospitality. This five star hospitality landmark with a colorful historic repertoire and an environmentally sensitive ultra-modern contemporary credo sets a living example of eco-success that many aspiring projects across the world can draw inspiration from, without unsettling and upsetting the already diminishing delicate eco-biosphere threatened worldwide. Hospitality with a Conscience, -is the Core Key today.
