Hotels with Legendary Gardens: Villa d’Este, La Mamounia, Raffles and Caruso

A luxury hotel is remembered for more than its rooms and service. Some are famous above all for their gardens: centuries-old parks by a lake, orange groves or tropical courtyards. Here are four hotels where the garden is the main reason to go, and when it looks its best.

Flowers fit for the best hotels: white roses and roses in a box.

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Four garden hotels

• Villa d’Este (Lake Como, Italy). A 16th-century residence that became a hotel in 1873, with a vast park, a mosaic avenue, statues and a pool floating on the lake.
• La Mamounia (Marrakech, Morocco). Opened in 1923 within historic gardens of olive, orange, roses and palms covering several hectares inside the city walls.
• Raffles (Singapore). A historic hotel from 1887 with tropical courtyards where frangipani blooms and palms rustle.
• Caruso (Ravello, Italy). An 11th-century palazzo on a cliff above the Amalfi Coast, with gardens and a pool that seems to float over the sea.

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The most unusual hotels

Besides garden hotels, some surprise in other ways: the ice hotel in Jukkasjärvi, Sweden, rebuilt every winter from the ice of the Torne River, or rooms in the treetops. Some old hotels are known for ghost stories, and these “spooky” hotels attract lovers of legends.

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Bringing the atmosphere home

• Fresh flowers on the bedside table are what set a good hotel apart.
• White and cream roses, orchids and greenery are classics of hotel floristry.
• Choose gentle scents: freesia, spray roses, eucalyptus.

For Italian gardens, see Italy in bloom and gardens of Naples and Amalfi.

FAQ

Can you visit a hotel’s gardens without staying there?

Sometimes: many hotels welcome restaurant and bar guests or offer tours. Check the conditions in advance.

When should I go to Marrakech for the gardens?

In spring (March to May) and autumn (October and November), when it is not too hot.

Author: Maria Svitlovir

Graduated from Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv, Institute of Biology and Medicine (2001). BSc in Biology, MSc in Horticulture. Writes about plants, works at a garden centre selecting and repotting plants, and contributes to plant reference guides.

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