|
|
Like women, luxury hotels need a lot of attention, love, and affection
By: Amedeo Ottaviani
My business card simply says hotelier. I was supposed to become a doctor but hospitality is in my blood.
|
  |
I was brought up in my grandfather's castle, and it was always filled with guests. Even as a little boy I loved the vibe, the activity of everything that was going on. Later, when I was older, my father encouraged me to travel and see as much as I could.
Travel is so important and I am still away a lot, catching up on what is going on. In London, I usually stay at Claridge's. I love tradition, and anything Art Deco. I was really excited to see The Plaza in New York re-done.
My travels invariably lead to more purchases for my hotels, the Hotel Lord Byron in Rome, and the 35-room Hotel Regency in Florence, which is an adaptation of the classical-style home of the Polish writer Stefano Zeromski, 1864-1925.
At the Hotel Lord Byron, which I built from scratch in a whisper-quiet side street just outside Rome's Borghese Gardens, I display much of the art I love so much. The luxury hotel's all-day restaurant, Sapori, is hung with gold-framed original portraits, all of women or girls, vintage 1930-1945. All 32 bedrooms and suites have different art collected on my travels. Corner room 301, for instance, has a Warhol-like blowup of Marilyn Monroe, and an equally large face that could be Jane Wyman, President Reagan's first wife. Like all the rooms, number 301 oozes Art Deco. The furniture is high-varnish wood, and the minibar is hidden in an Art Deco cocktail cabinet.
But it is important that all tradition must be brought up to date. My hotels' bedrooms have linen cloths on the bedheads. Those at the Hotel Lord Byron are embroidered with HLB (Hotel Lord Byron), just as was done in the past. But my hotel bedrooms also, by contrast, have wall-set plasma television screens. Every year we take up to ten rooms out for a time, for a comprehensive refurbishment.
A luxury hotel is like a woman, it needs a lot of attention. It is also similar to a flower that requires constant care. As my lovely staff know, I might even check on Sunday breakfast at the Hotel Lord
|
Byron (though being a good Italian I personally only have an espresso, eschewing the whole ricotta, cold cuts and the chafing dish's perfect scrambled eggs - better, some guests kindly say, than they can make at home).
Having hotels in both Florence and Rome is demanding. I used to drive, at breakneck speed, between the two cities but now I take the high-speed train as I can work enroute. I am lucky in that I have fabulous employees in both hotels - and they seem to stay forever. For me, service is everything. Many guests are not experienced travelers and we must all be there to help them.
My children prefer to run an outside party catering company, Relais Le Jardin - realistically, I must confess there is more money in that than in hotels. But I am lucky enough to have enough money for my own purposes, and hotels are my entire life.
THE AUTHORAmedeo Ottaviani is a legend in Italy's travel and tourism industry. He was President of Ente Nazionale Italiano per il Turismo for eleven years and he is now Chairman of Vintage Hospitality SrL, a loose network of mutually-supportive privately-owned small hotels throughout Italy. www.regency-hotel.com
Sign up for Confidential Newsletter
Send this article to a friend
View other Insider Articles
|
| | | |   | | An amazing wedding ceremony
"...the gorgeous, romantic seven-day wedding ceremony at Taj Lake Palace, Udaipur, India, will always be one of my happiest m... moreBy: Seia Lee |
| | |
|
|
| | | | Sign up for the Free WOW Confidential Newsletter |  |
Advertisement | |
BACK
