Mr & Mrs Smith Casa Olea Hotel

Casa Olea, a former 18th-century vicarage turned boutique hotel on the bank of Lake Como, has such austere design (hunks of stone, brushed concrete, wood flooring, bare-necessity furnishings), that rooms and suites resemble extremely chic monastic cells. But, in the big picture, the villa moves beyond building and into sculpture: vaults coarse with ancient brick, a modern steel staircase snaking around a nevera (an ancient fridge) beaded with cobbles, massive beams shouldering huge glass-walled antechambers and ceilings with weathered struts. It has the spatial awareness of a Richard Serra piece with the odd colourful eye-catcher or creeping plant. And, of course, the only feature to really focus on: those views.