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Il Sereno / Le Sereno hotels
Spare interiors and generous suites set water centre stage, from Lake Como to the Caribbean.
Sereno makes intimate hotels with generous rooms, quiet design, and a strong relationship to the water around them. Founded by the Contreras family, the collection centers on Il Sereno on Lake Como and Le Sereno in St. Barthélemy, with Villa Pliniana offering a private estate stay on the Italian lake.
3 Il Sereno / Le Sereno hotels in 2 countries on the Luxury Hotels Atlas, each placed on the six LHA Tiers.
- Majority-owned by KSL Capital Partners
- Worldwide: Two named flagship hotels — Il Sereno (Lake Como, Italy) and Le Sereno (St. Barthélemy) — plus Villa Pliniana, an exclusive-use Lake Como estate managed by Sereno Hotels, for three properties total as of 2026, with KSL's stated strategy to add "a select few new small and supremely luxurious hotels in unique locations"
- On the atlas: 1 Grand Luxury, 2 High Luxury
History
The Contreras family developed Sereno through a small number of hotels with generous suites and strong design identities. Patricia Urquiola shaped Il Sereno and Villa Pliniana, while Christian Liaigre’s work gave Le Sereno its own Caribbean expression. The original design team returned for the St. Barthélemy rebuilding after Hurricane Irma, preserving continuity through that difficult chapter.
Timeline
- ~2003 — Luis Contreras and the Contreras family found what becomes Sereno Hotels, "over twenty years ago" by the company's own account
- 2006 — The Contreras family reopens the site of the 1972 Sereno Beach Hotel in Grand Cul-de-Sac, St. Barthélemy, as Le Sereno, after a redesign by French designer Christian Liaigre.
- 2013–15 — The family separately restores Villa Pliniana, a 1573–77 Renaissance villa on Lake Como owned by the Ottolenghi family since 1983, under Sereno Hotels management.
- 2016 — Il Sereno opens 1 August on Lake Como at Torno, the first entirely new contemporary hotel built on the lake's shores in decades, designed inside and out by Patricia Urquiola on a historic state-owned stone boathouse; Villa Pliniana opens the same year, 1 May, as an exclusive-use retreat and Il Sereno's sister property down the lake.
- 2017 — Hurricane Irma severely damages Le Sereno.
- 2018 — Le Sereno reopens in December after a rebuild reuniting original designer Christian Liaigre with lighting designer Arnold Chan and landscape architect Fernando Tabora.
- 2021 — Il Sereno expands from 30 to 40 suites, adding a Signature Penthouse; Travel + Leisure names it the No. 1 hotel in Italy.
- 2023 — KSL Capital Partners acquires a majority interest in Sereno Hotels in a deal financed via Cheyne Capital, with the Contreras family remaining significant investors and Luis Contreras continuing as CEO; Travel + Leisure names Il Sereno the Best Hotel in Italy, Best Hotel in Europe, and No. 4 Best Hotel in the World, and Le Sereno the No. 1 hotel to stay at in St. Barthélemy.
- 2025 — Il Sereno earns MICHELIN Two Keys and ranks No. 22 in Travel + Leisure's World's Best Hotels; Le Sereno earns MICHELIN One Key and an AAA Four Diamond rating.
The houses to know
- Il Sereno, Torno, Italy — The first entirely new hotel built on Lake Como's shores in decades, designed inside and out by Patricia Urquiola, and ranked the No. 4 hotel in the world by Travel + Leisure in 2023.
- Le Sereno, Grand Cul-de-Sac, Saint Barthélemy — A 1972 beach hotel reborn twice, once by Christian Liaigre in 2006, and again after Hurricane Irma in 2018, now ranked the No. 1 hotel in St. Barthélemy.
- Villa Pliniana, Torno, Italy — A 1573–77 Renaissance villa that hosted Byron, Napoleon, and Rossini, restored and opened by Sereno Hotels as an exclusive-use retreat down the lake from Il Sereno.
Newest openings
- No new Sereno-branded hotel has opened in the last 12–24 months. The brand's most recent opening remains Villa Pliniana and Il Sereno (both 2016) and the rebuilt Le Sereno (December 2018); the most significant recent development is corporate rather than physical — the 2023 KSL Capital Partners investment aimed at funding the brand's next phase of growth.
Opening next
- No new hotel sites had been confirmed in the sources reviewed through mid-2026. Following KSL Capital Partners’ 2023 investment, founder Luis Contreras and the group described plans for a small number of additional hotels with an emphasis on design and informal, personal service.
Every Il Sereno / Le Sereno hotel on the atlas
Italy
- Il Sereno — Torno · Grand Luxury
- Villa Pliniana — Torno · High Luxury
Saint Barthélemy
- Le Sereno — Grand Cul-de-Sac · High Luxury
Open The Maison in the atlas for Il Sereno / Le Sereno's full dossier, with prices and maps.