Albergo Terminus

The Albergo Terminus stands on the Como lakefront, in an Art Nouveau building put up in 1900 by the architect Italo Zanolini for the celebrations of the centenary of Volta's battery.

It began as the spa of the neighbouring Grand Hotel Plinius, the Palace Hotel since 1992, and the name Terminus recalls that first use. During the First World War it was a military hospital; in the 1930s it became a hotel in its own right. In the Second World War it was requisitioned by the German army and then by the Allied command, which kept its headquarters here until 1946. A complete renovation began in 1988, and the hotel reopened in 1994. The building has a small tower; the hall keeps its loggia, its Art Nouveau furniture, its cast-iron railings and lamps and the stucco on its walls.