The luxury hotel Giardino Ascona combines a laid-back ambience, a high-level of service and a charismatic design to a place of Mediterranean savoir-vivre.
Breath, relax, stroll, chill, move, marvel or enjoy – this Soul Retreat provides undiluted relaxation with character in the Ticino, the Italian part of Switzerland.
Culinary highlight is undoubtedly the 2-Michelin-star restaurant Ecco Ascona. Its excellent aromatic cuisine and puristic simplicity, is restaged daily by the ideas of Executive Chef Rolf Fliegauf and his team.
At the restaurant Hide & Seek Ascona, guests are spoiled with finest Mediterranean cuisine.
The dipiù Spa in Ascona promises a world full of vitality, beauty, well being and balance. It offers plenty of space to find inner peace and to strengthen body and mind. Be it in the products or spa treatments; dipiù stands for authenticity, quality and sustainability.
Rooms and suite categories differ mainly in their size. All rooms and suites are equipped in a light Mediterranean design.
Earth-coloured tones, old wood parquet flooring, colorful fabrics and high-quality furniture dominate the decor. All rooms and suites have a mini-bar, flat screen TV, DVD player, radio, wi-fi, room safe, air conditioning system, hair dryer, body care products from dipiù cosmetics, bathrobes and slippers.
In addition, there is an espresso machine in the suites. All rooms and suites have a terrace or a balcony. Some rooms have connecting doors for easy access to those closest to you.
The Morning Sun suites are the most luxurious of the retreats. They showcase the perfect marriage of space and comfort over a positively stunning total surface area of 70 square metres with separate living and sleeping areas.
Open and spacious, yet with a Mediterranean charm. These suites have wonderful views of the mountain landscape.
The South Side suites are the very definition of casual luxury. Bright and spacious, warm and charismatic – with 70 wonderful square metres and separate living and sleeping areas, this is a place that will truly leave nothing to be desired.
All rooms are south-facing, with a view of the Mediterranean garden or the sweeping golf course.
The Morning Sun Junior suites effortlessly combine a cosy retreat with the freedom of plenty of space. With a spacious 50 square metres on average and a private garden terrace,
these suites offer an open-plan layout and contemporary design. The private garden is particularly wonderful in the morning.
The South Side Junior suites are a sunnier version of the Morning Sun Junior suites.
Averaging 50 sun-soaked square metres with a private garden terrace, these suites will make you feel like you have done everything right.
They are filled with light, Mediterranean flair and a generous feeling of space.
The Morning Sun double rooms offer space to retreat and relax.
Averaging an inviting 34 square metres in size, these rooms provide everybody with their own private comfort zone.
They are the perfect place to spend a whole day indoors, taking in the stunning view of the Ticino Alps – either from your bed or your generous balcony. After all, the lake will still be there tomorrow.
The South Side double rooms exude Mediterranean joie de vivre. These personal retreats are situated on the sunny side of the hotel and boast wonderful views of the hotel’s water lily pond and garden.
With an average size of 34 square metres, these rooms are the perfect place to relax and unwind – especially while watching the sunset from the balcony.
Revitalizing luxury on the Lake Maggiore, fresh colors and lively Mediterranean design feature the double rooms of the hotel.
Look forward to your wellness oasis on Lago Maggiore. The hotel looks forward to welcoming you.
Refined and constantly surprising Italian specialities or creative combinations and intensive nuances by the Michelin-star chef Rolf Fliegauf.
Your palate is already looking forward to it. Enjoy and be pampered.
Newspapers hot off the press and a quick espresso await you first thing in the morning before you play a round of golf. In the afternoon, a sweet and yet relaxing dolce far niente atmosphere beckons to you to come and enjoy a tea, some coffee and cake.
In the evening, with jazzy piano sounds in the background, you can meet here again and recall all of the day’s highlights yet again.
11.00h - till open end
German-born Fliegauf won his first Michelin star in 2007 at the age of 26, only six months after opening Ecco. The second star came in 2010. Then, in 2011, he opened Ecco in St Moritz, to which Michelin saw fit to award two stars the following year.
He doesn’t credit his Swabian hometown in south-west Germany for influencing his cooking — in fact, his style couldn’t be further from the rustic fare of that region. He favours clean, clear, intense flavours, which are best encapsulated in a dish described simply as green apple, sheep yoghurt and dill. That’s right, sheep’s yoghurt. “It’s not something you see often here, certainly — this is cow country, after all. But the stronger flavour of sheep’s yoghurt works better in this dish,” explains Fliegauf, who buys it from a small organic farm near the Swiss capital, Bern.
Unlike other items on his menu, which includes organic egg yolk, cep and Alba truffle, plus Norway lobster, ajo blanco and curry, this particular dish makes a regular appearance, he says. “We get a lot of feedback on this dish, so I keep bringing it back. I think people love it so much because they are surprised by it: how simple and refreshing it is, how well balanced — and that it’s a dessert, but it’s not sweet,” he explains.
Fliegauf draws inspiration from the area around Ascona, in particular the herbs and small-leaf salads that are grown especially for him. One of Switzerland’s 26 cantons, Ascona is located in the Ticino region, which is split into craggy mountain valleys and sherbet-coloured lakeside resorts such as Lugano, Locarno and Ascona. The local cuisine is something of a hybrid, too: slow-cooked polenta flecked with buckwheat; a funky, offal-rich sausage called codighe; marinated lake fish; braised goat; rabbit stew; pumpkin soup; risotto; and chestnuts — lots of chestnuts. Fliegauf’s food is not remotely as hearty, but he certainly plays with such ingredients.
That said, his recent travels in Asia have stirred a greater interest. “It’s not the ingredients, but the techniques — and the tradition of eating a progression of smaller dishes. I love the Asian way of eating,” he says. As you tuck into another round of thrilling dishes that flow cleverly from one to the next, you have to agree.
2 GUIDE MICHELIN STARS
The restaurant Ecco is renowned for its richly aromatic cuisine. Awarded two Michelin stars, talented Executive Chef Rolf Fliegauf lets natural ingredients and flavours shine in his diversified menus, each one a culinary masterpiece.
He gained additional two Michelin stars for his second restaurant at the Giardino Mountain, the restaurant Ecco St. Moritz.
19.00h - 00.00h
The time for hiding is over. Modern cuisine is authentic, unpretentious and local. But at Hide & Seek, the restaurant still has a zest for the new and exotic. Inspired by the principles of Ayurveda, our menu combines sweet, salty, bitter, spicy and sour as the basic elements of cuisine.
Local ingredients, regional herbs and invigorating spices create new and exciting flavours with delightful simplicity, and once you have discovered this unique approach to dining, nothing else will do.
You need more. More enchanting aromas and textures – crispy, soft and tender, pure, healthy and ever so slightly sexy.
Those seeking the key to complete and utter happiness on a plate need look no further.
Lunch12.30h - 14.00h Dinner19.00h - 22.00h
For those who want things a bit casual in the summer as well, the pool bar is just the right place to go. You can meet here in the garden with an easy-going atmosphere, snack on Mediterranean antipasti and salad buffet.
Then you have the hard choice of getting some grilled fish or a bit of meat – and then decide to get both. You can then top it all off with fresh fruits or homemade gelati.
12.00h - 17.00h
Beauty, Harmony, Vitality. The dipiù spa in Ascona leaves barely any wishes unfulfilled. Enjoy the lifestyle treatments, relaxation and beauty.
Benefit from professional consultations. Experience a sense of well-being and harmony.
The Giardino retreats are set to become the first five-star hotels in Switzerland to offer Ayurveda cures and therapies. Ayurveda is an ancient medical science, which also influenced Chinese medicine.
Physical activity is one of the most important prerequisites for more zest in life. Get rid of stress, release tensions and prevent illness.
Float lazily around in the pool, sweat away those everyday cares in saunas. Switch off, come down and enjoy.
Give all your senses a new joy and vitality. Inner peace and external beauty allow you to completely restore your equilibrium.
Even in the 1930's, Ascona became a center of tourism and culture. The excellent location and the mild climate of this picturesque town on the lake is what attracts people.
Even today, the "beautiful spot on Lago Maggiore" has sacrificed nothing of its charm. Numerous occasions and events give the pearl which is Ascona an additional lustre.
The gallery Arttur.ch presents their series “Diamond Dust” from Los Angelas, USA. The special feature: your own portrait can be transformed into a piece of diamond art.
Ascona Museum of Modern Art exhibits works from those avant-garde artists who, fleeing from the horrors of World War I in Northern Europe, found refuge in the Locarno region, on the shores of Lake Maggiore.
The hotel provides a large selection of different types of bikes. Whether it is for a pleasant excursion into the Locarnese valleys or for an espresso or a latte macchiato on the piazza of Ascona – different city bikes are available for you.
The hotel has the exclusive Design-Yacht Frauscher 1017-GT. This yacht by Frauscher is appealing in every way: top-performance, lots of space, first-class design and perfect equipment.
First-class courses in a unique environment: The 18-hole golf course in Ascona – the Golf Club Patriziale Ascona –with its beautifully cultivated park landscape and its fabulous views of the lake and the mountains.
Lago Maggiore covers an area of 212.5 km², of which 80.1 % belongs to Italy with the other 19.9 % belonging to Switzerland.
A high-class and yet informal environment creates an inspiring ambience for your meetings or banquets. The hotel is happy to assist and advise you with love of detail and professional service.
Here you can do a whole lot, no sign of monotony and boredom here. Grab a Giardino kids bike and ride to Lago Maggiore, the lake right by the hotel. You can swim there and fish, ride a pedal boat or build a raft with your new vacation friends. You can also fish in the garden pond, but just don’t get caught! If Marco the gardener sees something, he will cuss really loud and in Italian! Then there’s only one thing to do: escape through the hedge!
And when you return to your room in the evening, tired from so much playing, the Dinopost is there waiting for you. That is the newspaper just for kids! It has news about everything which will be happening the next day.
The Dinoclub is just for kids. You can play with other kids, make things, draw and much more. Of course, there is also someone there who will show you everything and will help you. You can eat with your vacation friends at the big kids’ table. That is more fun than at the adults’ table for sure. After dessert you can really let off steam with your friends on the new soccer field. For kids from age 3 to 13.
GIARDINO ASCONA
Via del Segnale 106612 AsconaSwitzerland