FROM VISION TO REALITY
Inauguration: May 23, 2025
“It all stemmed from an idea: to champion the local area, offer guests a new way of enjoying nature, and – on a personal level – to spend time with the people I love most, in the places where I grew up. Habitat was the result.”
Elia Frapolli
founder and first inhabitant of Habitat Lake Maggiore
Habitat Lake Maggiore is unlike anything you have seen before. Nestled between the lake, the mountains and the sky in a small hamlet in Gambarogno, its six wood and glass dwellings all share the concept of warm hospitality, connection and freedom, providing a new way to enjoy your holiday. To experience nature with infinite horizons. And to breathe in an atmosphere of simplicity, beauty, intimacy and tranquillity, right on the edge of the forest.
A PIECE OF INFINITY
Habitat Lake Maggiore reflects a fresh approach to hospitality, offering much more than a guesthouse or bed & breakfast. It is not a hotel. Nor is it a resort. It is embedded in its natural surroundings, offering sustainable products and services tailored to its guests. Habitat provides a place to enjoy solitude or to relax, while immersed in a revitalising, unique and awe-inspiring environment.
SIX WOOD AND GLASS DWELLINGS, WITH A STYLISH, MINIMALIST DESIGN THAT PRIORITISES SUSTAINABILITY AND ENERGY EFFICIENCY. INTIMATE AND FLOODED WITH SUNLIGHT, SMART AND FUNCTIONAL, CONNECTED YET INDEPENDENT, OVERLOOKING A UNIQUE LANDSCAPE, AND WITH A FOCUS ON TRANSPARENCY, IN HARMONY WITH THE NATURAL SURROUNDINGS.
LIVE IN NATURE
Habitat Lake Maggiore is its own miniature ecosystem. It comprises six standalone dwellings with all the mod cons, served by a 24/7 office/reception and self-service shop selling the finest local foods and craft products. Elia’s family home is located on site, closer to the road. The plan for Habitat was named one of the three best Swiss hotel concepts at the Hotel Innovation Award 2022.
ON THE SHORE OF LAKE MAGGIORE
The peaceful shore of Lake Maggiore on the Gambarogno Riviera in Switzerland is a true natural haven. Here the lake meets the bewitching mountains and an inhabited landscape that has lost none of its authenticity. Untouched by mass tourism, the Gambarogno Riviera has its own unique identity and atmosphere, and deserves to be discovered and experienced with love and at a relaxed pace. A place of intimacy, joy and beauty. To explore and safeguard. And to return to again and again.
A tourism consultant, entrepreneur and innovator, and the founder of Habitat Lake Maggiore. He came up with the idea, oversaw its development, then (along with his wife and children) became its first inhabitant, managing the site himself.
Elia Frapolli