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Finger Lakes If you want to pretend you are in a villa on an Italian lake, stay a night or two at this onetime monastery, now a small and sophisticated European-style resort hotel beside Seneca Lake. Built in 1910 as a replica of the Lancellotti Villa in Frascati outside Rome, with marble fireplaces and symmetrical gardens, the original Byron M. Nester estate was the home from 1949 to 1974 of Capuchin monks, who added a chapel, dormitory and dining room. Ithaca developer Norbert Schickel of Ithaca turned it first into apartments and then into a resort with 30 rooms and suites in 1981. The Schickel family sold in 1995 to Alfred and Aminy Audi of Syracuse, who had saved the ailing Stickley furniture company and put it in an expansion mode. The Audis kept a low profile, but financed a much-needed refurbishing and upgrading designed to produce “the crown jewel of all resorts.” Mrs. Audi makes the decorating decisions, employing the vast Stickley collection of furnishings, accessories and art objects. “She has the vision,” says general manager Bill Schickel, who oversees every detail. Accommodations range widely from six studio suites with fold-down murphy beds to two-bedroom suites with fireplaced living rooms to two-story townhouses. The bigger ones like the Landmark one-bedroom suite with kitchen and elegant living room in which we stayed are comfortable and luxurious in an understated way. Others are more showy. The Whirlpool Suite in the monastery’s former sanctuary is a knockout with cathedral ceiling and a bright red whirlpool tub, big enough for four, in a mirrored alcove off a living room furnished in Stickley Hepplewhite. The premier Classic Suite, with fireplaces in both living room and master bedroom, is 1,100 square feet of luxury, furnished in Stickley Chippendale. The Loft Suite appears more modern in Stickley mission oak. It offers a kingsize bed, a living room with a fifteen-foot ceiling and a balcony sitting area with a view of lake and gardens. Half the suites are two bedrooms, and most come with full kitchens and large living rooms. Some of the apartment vestiges (among them mailboxes in the entries) inevitably remained, although under the new ownership, one suspected, not for long. Now the emphasis is on amenities, with robes, irons and boards, and down feather pillows. Complimentary wine is in the refrigerator, a bowl of fruit on the table, and chocolates are at bedside after nightly turndown service. The verdant, private setting is spectacular. Manicured grounds outlined in privet and dotted with marble statues stretch to the 70-foot-long swimming pool on a bluff at lake's edge. A trail descends to the water, where guests may swim, fish or use a paddleboat, or board the inn’s fifteen-seat pontoon boat for a late-afternoon tour of the lake. An impressive colonnade pavilion provides a lovely shaded area for breakfast, lunch or cocktails on the rear terrace. Guests are treated on Friday nights to a tasting of New York State wines and cheeses in the pavilion. Marion Schickel, widow of the resort’s founder, has hosted the event every weekend for twenty years. A light continental breakfast of fresh juice, fruit and croissants is included in the rates. A full country breakfast is available for $14.50. We can attest that the scrambled eggs with cream cheese and the shirred eggs with Canadian bacon are excellent. Elegant candlelight dinners with live music are offered to guests and the public nightly in the intimate and romantic Lancellotti Dining Room that could well be in Rome. It's the former foyer with carved wood ceilings, marble mantle and tapestries. A 17th-century Mexican tin-crafted mirror and Italian chandeliered sconces are among its treasures. Its nine tables are supplemented by five more in an adjacent Garden Room, all graced by extravagant floral bouquets. The food is excellent, the service flawless and the ambiance quite festive as a singer and a pianist or a violinist entertain throughout the meal. The pricey, set menu varies by the night of the week, weekdays prix-fixe for five courses and weekends à la carte. Diners partake of appetizers like dilled jumbo shrimp cocktail (the recipe featured in Bon Appétit magazine), and entrées like veal scampi diane, mesquite-grilled filet mignon chasseur and cold-water rock lobster thermidor. The signature dishes offered by a team of three chefs rarely change. We’ve enjoyed the chicken jacqueline in port wine and heavy cream with sliced apples and toasted almonds, and sherried shrimp dejonghe, both with crisp beans and mixed rice, followed by pumpkin cheesecake and a grand marnier mousse. Another occasion produced a tasty special of poached salmon with salsa and rack of lamb dijonnaise, teamed with excellent spinach salads with warm bacon dressing. Bananas foster and strawberries romanoff finished another memorable meal. Locals shocked by the dinner prices are quite happy with summer lunches on the Colonnade terrace. Options range from a vegetarian delight to a ham and cheese panini to Asian tuna coleslaw. We liked the garlicky and chunky vegetable gazpacho with a curried chicken and avocado plate and the carrot-ginger soup with a curried chicken in pita sandwich, followed by a cheesecake with blueberries and a delectable frozen grand marnier coupe. The resort is expensive, but worth it for a special treat. Six rooms and 23 suites with private baths. Doubles $225 to $360 weekends, $205 to $325 midweek. Suites, $350 to $805 weekends, $315 to $730 midweek. Prix-fixe, $59; entrées, $34. Lunch in
summer, Monday-Saturday noon to 2. Dinner, Sunday-Thursday 6:30 to 8,
Friday-Saturday 7 to 9. For more information: www.genevaonthelake.com
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