The Grand Hotel Cadenabbia dates back to the year 1802, the year in which the first hotel of Lake Como, the Locanda Cadenabbia, was built. It served as a resting house for travellers and transporters of goods, which at that time were transported by boat.

Eventually, with the discovery of Lake Como as a place of rare beauty, the building was developed and enlarged and took the name The Grand Hotel Bellevue. The first tourists to stay were English, but very quickly the Grand Hotel Bellevue attracted an ever-more cosmopolitan clientele, such that the hotel can boast of having hosted eleven illustrious guests from amongst Emperors, Kings and Queens and Heads of State, including Queen Victoria.

In 2005, a total restoration and re-development of the hotel began, which was completed in 2007. When it was reopened, the hotel was recalled the Grand Hotel Cadenabbia and was accorded a four-star classification.