Step Inside the Italian Riviera's Most Exclusive Family-Owned Luxury Hotels

Hi, I'm James Schilling-Law here at ILTM.com. We're on the last day, largest ILTM ever, and we're here talking with some of the best in travel and tourism and luxury travel. And this woman next to me, we actually spoke with last year, Sara Mastrialli, who is with Collection M. And we talked to her about one hotel that we'll talk about, and now there's a new one they're introducing. And it sounded great. I promised I would go to the Venice one, but I never got there, and now I got to do two. It's great. But we're going to talk to her all about that and more on Insider Travel Report. Sara, great to see you again here at ILTM. It's a much bigger show. It's a huge show now, but it's the most wonderful show ever, I think. It's incredible. It is big, but I think people are having a lot of fun, and the energy here is great. Now let's talk about last year. What was the property we were talking about in Venice? Allora, last year we were opening a property, and we had just opened a property. Violino D'Oro is going to be one year old on Friday, tomorrow, Violino's birthday. So we were opening our Venetian property on the lagoon. And this year we're moving from, let's say, one side of the coast to another side of the coast. In April we will be opening, reopening actually, Pensione America, in a small town on the coast of Tuscany that is very dear to our hearts, which is Forte dei Marmi, which some might know and many might not know. So this is our news for this year. And when is that going to open officially? So it's officially going to open for Easter, so we're talking end of April. Okay. Yeah. So now I've got, as I said, April, if I come over, I've got to do two. If you come over, you've got to pop on both sides of the coast of Italy, Venice and Tuscany. I twist my arm, okay? This is like, now, this, how many rooms is this property? So this is quite a special property. For those who don't know, Forte dei Marmi, for Italians, it's one of those iconic vacationing destinations, right? So in our Dolce Vita imagination, there is Capri, of course, down in the south. There's Cortina in the Dolomites for skiing. And especially for families from Milan and Florence, there is Forte dei Marmi. So Forte dei Marmi blossomed, obviously, post-war during the economical boom in the sixties and seventies, and again, all that Dolce Vita vibe. But it was actually born at the very beginning of the century, the 20th century, with a very small crowd of artists and aristocrats from all over Europe that ran away from the cities they lived in and the chaos. And they vacationed in this tiny town called Forte dei Marmi, among them Thomas Mann and Count Negroni. You like Negroni? Negroni. I know who Thomas Mann is too. Negroni's, Count Negroni, he lived in Florence and it's debated whether he had his first Negroni drink at La Cappanina in Forte dei Marmi or in Florence at Caffè Giacosa. So that was the kind of vibe. But I don't think it was called Negroni then. He named it. Oh, he did name it. Count Negroni. I know. Did he actually think, OK, I'm naming this drink after myself? He asked a variant of an existing drink and it was very successful. And the barman obviously named it after him. I mean, he would go and he would ask for a Negroni. And now what is it? 100 years later, more than 100 years later, half of the world is asking for Negronis. So that's part of the story of Forte dei Marmi. Pensione America was actually an existing villa during that era. It's a beautiful villa from the beginning of the century. And it has been a pensione in Forte dei Marmi during the course of all of the 20th century. It was closed a few decades ago. And we will reopen it to answer your question as an 18 rooms only, rooms and suites, five star boutique property. Wow. And how did you find this property? I'm from Florence. So my family and I, we've been vacationing in Forte dei Marmi for many, many years. And Pensione America is actually very close to our other hotel, Villa Roma Imperiale, that is in Forte dei Marmi, and also our family home. So everyone in Forte is familiar with Pensione America. And for many years, we just rode our bicycles by it. And it was this beautiful abandoned villa. There were issues with the last owners. So it was there, it was kind of abandoned. And then one day, it just got into the process and things happened and we decided to include this very special part of the history of Forte dei Marmi to our collection. And so you've been working on renovating the whole place, getting up to speed. So you have the 18 rooms. What other facilities do you have? Do you have a restaurant there too? Of course, we have actually quite a big restaurant because the hotel only has 18 rooms. And that kind of gives the idea of a small hotel, whereas Pensione America is quite a big villa. So the bar and restaurant area and all the lounges and salotti in the villa are very big for an 18 room hotel. Our restaurant can sit up potentially up to 120 people. Which I think will make Pensione America a very special place also for private events. Because with 18 rooms only and such beautiful and spacious living areas, it's very easy to buy out and privatize for events, I think. But it has a beautiful garden, a beautiful swimming pool, all laid in painted ceramic tiles from Sicily. And then, fun fact, it actually also, it is a decent and includes a historical tennis club of Forte dei Marmi, which is tennis courts. So we have tennis courts and not only, we have a tennis club that is actually a very important part of the life of Forte dei Marmi, which is included in Pensione America. So it's part of the hotel as well. Sounds like you can spend a few days there, right? And obviously then we have our beach club as well. So definitely a few days. We always recommend Forte dei Marmi. It's one of those places, it's not about going and seeing something. It's a place that offers the very rare today possibility to live an Italian villeggiatura, we call it. Villeggiatura is a bit of a vintage word, but it's what families would do in places like Pensione America. They would go and they would spend two weeks, a month, sometimes two months, you know, with the family and just enjoy the bella vita, the life. So that is what we recommend for Forte dei Marmi. You come and you live the authenticity of Forte. Don't spend one or two nights. Spend at least four or five nights. Well, I know when I was a kid, we did go down to the coast of Tuscany and went to small villages and stayed in very small places. Not five-star hotels back then when I was growing up, but I do remember those towns are lovely. And of course now the whole ethos of the industry, stay local, experience the real town. And it sounds like you've got a perfect place to do that here where the Italians vacation as well. Absolutely, yes. And the beauty of Forte dei Marmi is, well, first of all, natural. We have long sandy beaches, but then these beaches which have all the different beach clubs, these beach clubs, they date back sometimes to the beginning of the century and definitely to the 60s, the 70s, the 80s. And it's beautiful because every beach club is all made of wood and has different colors. So all the cabanas are like, for example, in our beach club, they are green and blue. The next door beach club is yellow and light blue and so on. They're actually protected by the municipality as part of the heritage of Italy. So you can't change the colors, you can't change the names. They're actually visually the aesthetics of Forte dei Marmi. I remember reading once a colleague writing an article and saying that Forte dei Marmi is like a slim errands photo shoot everywhere you look. You really breathe in that era of Dolce Vita, so it's particularly special. And then the dining, it's I think one of the places in Italy with the best, finest dining. This is grand Italian cuisine from northern Italy, right? From northern Italy, from the coast specifically. It's actually Forte dei Marmi, which is a very high-end destination, but it's a very understated kind of laid-back luxury. So I would say a lot of spaghetti on the beach. I can deal with that. Cold white wine, vermentino. When do we go there now? We open at the end of April and from May on. I can wait on it for that long. You are very welcome to join. Yeah, no, it's seasonal. So our hotels open for Easter usually, so end of April, and they're open until October. And obviously, peak season will be June, July, and August, but I always recommend also May and September that are really peaceful and wonderful, yeah. So next year, what resort are you going to come back with next year? Easy, slow, and steady. It's only one a year. I don't know what year. No, no, no, no, no. We are a family-owned, small boutique. How many in the collection now? So now five. Two in Florence, two in Forte dei Marmi, and one in Venice. And one in Venice from last year. Well, it sounds absolutely amazing. Now, anything else you'd like to tell our travel agency audience, our travel advisor audience about Forte dei Marmi and that villa, and even what's going on with your Venice property? About Forte dei Marmi, I can say that it's, personally, I feel that it's really wonderful when I travel to not only see beautiful things, because in Forte dei Marmi, you can see beautiful things, but to more and more to experience, to just, you know, stay with yourself and experience something unique. And Italy has a lot of very mainstream, wonderful destinations, including, for example, Florence and Venice, that we can't stress enough, can be lived and explored in different and more authentic ways. And then it has destinations that are more uncommon and less mainstream, and one of them is Forte dei Marmi. So I really welcome everybody to try to explore a different kind of Italy, because you will be pleasantly surprised. Absolutely. Now, where can travel advisors find out more information about Forte dei Marmi and, in fact, all of your properties? Well, Forte dei Marmi, I mean, it's a piece of my heart. So I always say to all the advisors, please reach out to me directly, even, and of course to all of our team. And you can start off by our mother website, so collezionem.com. We can share the information. And there you have all of our hotels. And then feel free to reach out to any of us. You've sold me on both of these properties now, and I still have to get there. But when I'm in Italy and I'm coming to Italy, I know in April. So hopefully I'll get a chance to drop by for both. I mean, see, I've got to catch up. Absolutely, yes. You are very welcome. With great pleasure. And everyone is. Well, thank you again for taking the time to tell us about another wonderful resort that I need to get to. And actually, all of your clients, it sounds like they need to get to this. I love Italy. This sounds like the perfect way to enjoy Italy. And of course, your Venice property was another one that I just really wanted to go to. You can't go wrong in both of these places. Again, thank you so much. And we look forward to seeing you soon. Thank you. Thank you very much. I'm James Schillinglaw, and this is Insider Travel Report.