Casa Martina

Casa Martina is the largest of the three apartments: two bedrooms, a living room with a sofa bed, and a wide glass front that brings Lake Maggiore indoors. You wake up to the light coming off the balcony and have breakfast at the table facing the water, without a single car in earshot.

It is built for families and groups: one of the two bedrooms has an extra folding single bed, the living room adds a sofa bed, and the kitchen — the only one of the three with a dishwasher — lets you actually cook rather than just reheat. Air conditioning, broadband Wi-Fi and Netflix are included, as are the private parking space and the covered bike store.

The whole lake opens up from here: Arona in a few minutes, then Stresa, Mottarone and the Borromean Islands. The railway station at Sesto Calende is about 3 km away and puts you in Milan in a little over an hour; Malpensa airport is half an hour by car. The public beach, with the bars and restaurants along the promenade, is a short stroll away.