Villa Feltrinelli, Gargnano, Italy

For a big family-clan gathering with old-world glamour, it’s hard to beat this 21-suite grande dame (or, rather, donna grande) of a villa. Set on eight acres along the western shore of Lake Garda, the villa has functioned as an opulent family retreat since 1892, when it was built as the summer home of the Feltrinelli lumber-merchant dynasty. Today, it still draws a roster of celebrities, sports legends and politicians with its intricately coffered ceilings, hand-painted frescoes, Venetian glass lamps and sculpted one-piece-marble-soaking tubs. The most decadent perk here, however, is chef Stefano Baiocco, who runs the in-house kitchen; trained under Alain Ducasse and Ferran Adrià, he creates sublime dishes (like langoustine in crustacean-and-seaweed broth), using ingredients straight from the property’s gardens and 18th-century greenhouse. villafeltrinelli.com