Discover a Luxury Hotel Chain with the Best Locations in Italy

Hi, I'm James Schellinglaw here at the last day of an incredible conference, ILTM Con. There are 10,000 people and we're here interviewing all of incredible people from travel and tourism in luxury. And I'm here today with Riccardo Bortolotti who's the general manager of a wonderful hotel. It's a small luxury hotel, which is Grand Hotel Bristol, but you're also part of the Art Collection. We're going to talk about that. So we're going to talk to Riccardo about that and a whole lot more on Insider Travel Report. Tell us what is Art Collection and how many hotels are there? Well, actually Art Collection is part of 13 hotels spread in the northwest of Italy. So we have hotels on Lake Como mainly. Menaggio is our flagship hotel. So it's the Grand Hotel Victoria, part of SLH Hotel 2 and a five-star luxury hotel. Then we have the Hotel Royal in Varenna, the Villa Cipresi in Varenna and the Casa Dulac in Varenna. Going down by Milano, we have three hotels in Milano, but they are business hotels. In Valle d'Aosta, on Courmayeur, we have the Grand Hotel Courmayeur Mont Blanc, part of Preferred. Which is in Italy. Yes, yes, of course. It sounds French, but it's on the side of Italy. On the side of Italy. Then we have a Montana Lodge at La Tuile. Same sound French, but it's in Italy, Valle d'Aosta. And the last one. This is the last one. It is the Grand Hotel Bristol and that's in Portofino. Yeah, on the Portofino coast, just in front of Portofino. We are facing on one of the most beautiful and famous gulfs overall in the world, I think. Yeah, I've been, I've known, I've seen it as well. It's a marvelous place. But all your properties are in wonderful places. Thank you very much. Yes, location for us is very important. And, you know, in Italy, it's very easy to find a wonderful location. But yes, for us, the significant things about having a hotel is to have the three pillars. So an amazing location, a wonderful restaurant and a big spa. And you have all three, I guess. Of course, yes. We have four restaurants in total in our hotel. Three are on site. So we have an all day dining by the pool and wonderful bistro at the ground with a panoramic terrace. And then a gourmet restaurant on the sixth floor, which is already mentioned in the Michelin Guide. The fourth restaurant is off site in our wonderful beach club, which is brand new this year. Fantastic. Now, is this a historic building or is this a brand new construction? Super historical building. It was built in 1904 and at that time it was dedicated to the guests from North Europe, especially UK, that want to spend a nice time during the winter and not in the summer. And they were closing during the summer. So the time changing. And now we are dedicated more to people who want to spend a wonderful summer around. So you could go to your hotel, but then enjoy all the other hotels all around. What's the newest hotel in the collection? On the collection, the last latest to addiction are in the mountains. So the Grand Hotel Courmayeur Mont Blanc and the La Tuile, by importance, but by the date is the Bianca Relais. It's a little wonderful relay of ten rooms, five star and another Michelin restaurant located south on the lake in the west part. Then in another little lake down by Lake Como and the name is Oggiono. Sounds wonderful. Absolutely. So you've got things from Lake Como to the sort of ski areas and Courmayeur to down to Portofino to that area. So mountain, sea and city. Excellent. Now, roughly how many rooms in your hotel? 80 rooms, which on 72 are facing the sea. Amazing. Now, I assume all of them have great restaurants and things like that. Yes, of course. Yes. Amazing. So what would you tell travel advisors out there that that's the way we go to one hundred and twenty eight thousand travel advisors in the US about your properties and why they should consider booking them? Well, actually, it's located in a very smart place because you can easily explore the area from Rapallo because you get to Portofino in just 30 minutes by boat or to the wonderful Cinque Terre. Just taking the train to Cinque Terre is an amazing place. Yeah. And the Cinque Terre is getting more famous than Colosseum. So I love it. I was lucky enough to go there a few years ago and I would definitely go back. Portofino is wonderful. And I did that. But to go to Porto Venere too. You know. Yes. Yes. That's the other side of Cinque Terre. But yes, of course, is another you can reach it in 45 minutes, not more. So it's easy to to reach the destination. And not only Portofino, all the Gulf looks like the Amalfi Coast in certain ways. So it's the most affordable way to get into that kind of surrounding. Now, it is gorgeous. And I love the Amalfi Coast, too. But you don't have anything there yet, right? Not yet. Not yet. Not yet. It's not so easy. Someday. And then if you want to go skiing and go up north or, you know, all these different areas or Como. Today we just opened the Grande Terre Courmayeur. So today is the opening. And we will close in March, late March. And then from the summer, this will be the first year that will remain open from the summer till the next year in March. Now, where can travel advisors go to learn all about all these wonderful hotels? You have a website? Yes, of course. It's ourcollectionhotels.com, where you can see all the collection, of course. Fantastic. Anything else you'd like to tell our travel advisors about your collection of properties and your property in particular? Well, actually, we are all waiting for you and because just we know that we offer unique experiences and and that's something you cannot miss. Well, I got to tell you all the destinations that you're in. I love Como, Portofino and, of course, the ski destinations. Congratulations on that. And yes, take a look at the website. Take a look at his website for your directly hotel and you can find stuff from Portofino. Thank you for taking the time. I know this is the last, probably your last interview of the day. And he is my last interview of the day, but maybe the best. We'll see. Thank you. Because what you have is really kind of what I love and I'm sure a lot of our audience. Italy remains one of, if not the top destination, no matter what. Every survey that comes out says Italy is the number one for Americans. So hopefully you're going to get a lot of business. You can see from the fair, it's surrounded by Italians. Well, thank you very much. Thank you. I'm James Schillinglaw and this is Insider Travel Report.