If perfection has a name, then it is Hotel Eden Roc in Ticino. My first stop of my small but nice pleasure trip, was at Lake Maggiore, Ticino (CH).

The perfect hotel is a place where you feel at home, relaxed and comfortable. It is a place where you can enjoy your vacation to the fullest.

The rooms must be comfortable, spacious, have a breathtaking view and of course comfortable and inviting beds. The service exceptional.

Basically, the hotel must make the vacation unforgettable.

The luxury hotel Eden Roc 5* belongs to the Tschuggen Hotel Group.

Location

The hotel is located on the beautiful Lake Maggiore in Ticino, in Ascona. From the hotel you have a breathtaking view over the lake and the mountains in the background. On foot you can reach the small city center of Ascona within 5 minutes. Ascona is quite a charming place. It kind of reminded me a bit of Sylt from the people and the ambiance. According to Wikipedia, Ascona has 5554 inhabitants. On Tuesdays there is a small market on the lakeside. Parking is rather complicated in the city. Accordingly, it is good that the Hotel Eden Roc has its own parking lot and you can leave the car relaxed. Although you are actually in Switzerland, everything just looks like Italy. Everyone speaks Italian, the palm trees, the colorful houses and the air.

Hotel

The Eden Roc Hotel is simply ingeniously located. Directly on the shores of Lake Maggiore, you can make yourself comfortable in the many seating and lounging options with a good glass of champagne or just coffee and watch the sun set in the many colorful hues behind the lake.

The hotel has three restaurants, a bar and a small special cottage (La Casetta). La Brezza is a restaurant with Michelin-starred chef and executive chef Marco Campanella. When I was there, the Eden Roc restaurants with the wonderful chef Caterina Sara Vosti and the Marina Restaurant were open. I can’t say that I missed anything even remotely.

Caterina Vosti und ich

When you enter the entrance area, you are immediately welcomed and led to the reception. There are various receptionists (m/f) and a concierge who is always there to fulfill all wishes. Of course, only those that can be fulfilled within this framework.

A large window front is directed to the lake.

Rooms

The rooms have everything you need and much more. The beds are large (our bed was 2x 100×200) and have a very good selection of pillows already in stock. Pillows, here we go again. I need yes always nice and many and especially soft.
There is a Nespresso machine in the room. The special plus – the water tank is regularly refilled by room service. Thus, the coffee machine is immediately ready for use. In the refrigerator under the machine is then the milk nicely cooled. Of course, there are different types of coffee.

The minibar is included and offers a really large selection of drinks. From Gassosa (super tasty), to beer, spritzer, water, cola, etc. And chocolate! We always had that in the evening before we went to sleep, too. Delicious chocolate.

My room was a suite with a direct view of the lake. Both from the terrace and from the bathroom.

So the bathroom was the absolute hit anyway. So beautifully spacious and just the perfect place to relax. A large bathtub, the wonderful view from the floor-to-ceiling window, the immense shower and enough storage space. This bathroom was downright SPA.

This suite had a sofa bed, bedroom, bathroom and a terrace with two sun loungers. In the afternoon you had sun there and could relax with a book and just enjoy the moment.

A greeting from the chef Catarina Vosti:

Sport / SPA / Pool

Of course, such a hotel also has a sports center. On the ground level with a view to the outside, you can work out on the treadmill or stepper. The muscle building machines are so multifunctional. Water and towels are of course available there. You can even get free headphones and gym bands at the front desk.

The pool was just my perfect water temperature. I love warm water. Often they say – thermal – and then the water is way too cold. However, this pool water was not cold. So you could swim outside relaxed without getting blue lips.

There is an indoor area and the pool extends to the outside. Loungers are located both inside and outside. Large, cozy towels are available right on site. The bathrobe can be taken from the room. Drinks can also be ordered in the outdoor area and come from the bar (opens at 12:00).

Finally, you can then go to the mixed or but in the ladies sauna and relax. I went then rather in the steam bath. Is rather so my thing. Also there, there is always a water dispenser in the areas.

Tip: Definitely book a massage. My masseuse had so incredibly knowledgeable, apart from the great massage I got really good staying healthy tips.

Food

Well, a culinary pleasure trip – as the expression suggests – is associated with pleasure. And here I can only say that this word should actually be written bold in capital letters. We were spoiled with delicious and exquisite food during these days. Day in and day out. Starting with the rich breakfast buffet in the Eden Roc restaurant.

Egg dishes could be ordered freshly prepared directly from the waiter. Just like the freshly squeezed orange juice. Every morning you also get a kind of “shot”. No, without alcohol. I would rather call it a vitamin shot with interesting flavors.

Lunch and Dinner

The food in the restaurant was exquisite. Caterina Sara Vosti, chef is a great woman with always new ideas (interview coming – will link directly then). She knows how to use imagination to create interesting combinations that produce a delicious result. She has been cooking since she was in elementary school. Her fascination with “food” and especially its preparation is evident in her dishes. The burrata with three different kinds of tomatoes and olive caviar. Small balls of the best olive oil and balsamic are only the lightest dishes.

If you look at the ingredients alone, they look good. But when you have the different ingredients in your mouth, it gives a taste explosion.

She and her team seem to be very attuned, because no matter when, the food is always perfect. What is not on the menu is made to fit. For the demanding vegetarian in the family, new dishes were always considered.  Whether fish or meat, everything to the point and always combined with their own creation.

The concept Moving Mountains was developed by the hotel with star chefs and is on a purely vegetable basis. So also suitable for vegans.

We have eaten at the Marina Restaurant and Eden Roc.

The Marina is a bit more “casual” and has a wonderful terrace that faces the lake. I wouldn’t say the food is more casual. Because the food is in no way inferior to the Eden Roc. There are a bit more international dishes than the Eden Roc.

What is paid special attention to here in the hotel and restaurants is the quality. If possible, all ingredients are bought from the region. Products that don’t taste like anything due to the season are not included in the menu. Here it is about taste experiences and not about quantity.

The lovingly put together cards show that. And that also leads to the point of sustainability. A very important topic in today’s world. Ticino offers many wonderful foods and it is precisely these that the hotel’s chefs make use of. By the way, the hotel (Tschuggen Hotel Group) has been operated completely climate-neutral since 2019.

Food is so much more than just “eating”. It’s where the focus is on enjoyment and not simply filling your stomach. And for me, as an Italian, that comes first anyway.

I hardly know it any other way. Even when I was little and my parents both worked, the dishes that came on the table were always balanced, delicious, fresh and often quite simple. For me, food has to be like that. It doesn’t have to have a lot of chi chi at all. It has to have good quality and sophistication. Even with very simple dishes.

Here at Eden Roc, I can say that all of that was fulfilled.

Conclusion:

Why is the Hotel Eden Roc perfection?  It has many obvious reasons such as the location or the hotel itself, but also many things that you can only see if you look closely. That’s what I did and for that reason my verdict is exactly the same.

The service…

We have already joked that the room service hides behind the Ganz and sees exactly as soon as we leave the room. Because we never saw the room service. But the minibar and the water of the coffee machine refilled, the room cleaned, everything neatly put down on the sinks. In the evening the bed was made ready for bed, chocolate was put down, etc.

The waiters were unobtrusive and yet always present. As if they had radar.

Communication with whomever, worked flawlessly, without long explanations or anything. The team also seemed to communicate very well with each other.

Wifi…

No matter where you were in and outside the hotel, you had wifi. For me a very important point, as Switzerland does not fall into the roaming table and I need internet all the time.

The Management.

The director and/ or vice director were always on site walking through the restaurants in the evening or during the day greeting guests. Very close to the customer and not a bit aloof. Direct contact and friendly exchanges.

The atmosphere.

When you enter a location, no matter if it is a company, hotel or restaurant. You can feel the atmosphere. Is it positive? Is it perhaps negatively charged? Do people treat each other well? Do they have a smile on their lips or do they seem rather tense or even annoyed? We perceive all of this subliminally. In a positive environment, we often feel much more positive ourselves. This is the feeling we had here.

It’s often the little things that catch our eye. Whether positive or negative.

More about the Hotel Eden Roc can be found here:

Hotel Eden Roc
Via Albarelle 16
CH-6612 Ascona
Phone +41 91 785 71 71
info@edenroc.ch

On my next culinary trip part 2 I will bring you to Sanremo. More to follow.