10/02/2010

FOCUS: High fashion hotels “Made in Italy”

Missoni, Bulgari, Versace, Ferragamo

Italian fashion houses and designers are now becoming hoteliers, extending their style and image empires to the hospitality sector and art de vivre. A look at recent and upcoming openings…

Fashion headlines in Italy usually start in Milan, the world’s fashion capital according to some (although Parisians and New Yorkers might not agree!) and unquestionably home to the greatest luxury brands in Italy. Buoyed by their international reputations, some of the major fashion houses from Milan have decided to put their high-class image to good use in the hotel sector. So the most devout fashion victims no longer have to be content with simply wearing a coat or dress or carrying a handbag, but now can immerse themselves in the universe of their favourite brands down to the smallest details.

The most recent example of this trend and perhaps the most striking ? the June opening of the Hotel Missoni in Edinburgh, the cultural capital of Scotland. Since you cannot go from sketching clothes to managing hotels from one day to the next, this project is the offspring of a marriage of reason with the renowned Belgian hotel group Rezidor, which has all the necessary experience to run things as efficiently as possible. Rosita Missoni oversaw her eponymous hotel’s decoration down to the tiniest detail, creating a unique ambiance and style that you cannot fail to recognise.

Backgrounds and patterns in black and white associated with flamboyantly-coloured wall sections and designer pieces ? fans of the brand will love it and fit right in as soon as they step through the doors. All the floors are bold, energetic, modern, as are the 136 rooms and suites, and the public areas, from the Cucina restaurant to the Missoni bar, sparkling to perfection. The linens and the fragrance of the bath products are exclusive Missoni creations.

Nevertheless, they do tip their hat to local design by including a few things “made in Scotland” such as the Charles Rennie Mackintosh ladder-back chairs. The idea is to offer not just a comfortable room that is attractively decorated, but also to experience a unique moment in an atmosphere that is at once astonishing yet inviting. In this spirit, the price is all-inclusive: breakfast, laundry service, video on demand, mini-bar, etc. so that you feel right at home, or almost…

In 2010, a second Hotel Missoni should open in Cape Town, the cosmopolitan and dynamic South African city where fashion shows take place in the “off” season. The 157 rooms and suites might be already fully booked for the World Cup. There is also talk of openings in Kuwait and Oman, so stay tuned!

Another brand, another image and another destination in the southern hemisphere: Versace, which also has its headquarters in Milan, inaugurated a luxury hotel in Australia, south of Brisbane, the capital of Queensland.

In keeping with the brand’s penchant for all that glitters and a certain attachment to the past, alternating between baroque and empire styles and certainly anything but minimalist, the décor of the Palazzo Versace is a whole other universe from Missoni. Part of Leading Hotels of the World, this establishment’s goal is to bring some urban grandeur to a first-class seaside resort. You can enjoy one of the country’s most beautiful beaches yet at the same time feel like you are visiting Milan.

Opulence is everywhere, with marble and mosaics imported from Italy and furniture selected directly from the Versace collections or designed and manufactured specifically for the hotel. The appropriately named Il Barocco restaurant continues your imaginary voyage to Italy by dishing up mouth-watering Italian specialities. And to round out the expedition, the Versace boutique allows you to do some shopping so that you match the surroundings perfectly. Superb spa, immense ballroom and sunset boat rides make this the ideal destination for honeymooners from across the globe.

While Italy enjoys exporting what it does best, several of Italian fashion’s biggest names have also opened hotels at home. Beating the clothing designers to it, jeweller Bulgari and shoemaker Ferragamo were the spearheads of this movement.

In the spring of 2004 Bulgari opened its first hotel in the heart of Milan in the Brera district, offering all the luxury that you would expect from this top jeweller, with the charm and exclusivity of a large garden as a bonus. A real oasis of peace and pampering within the city’s hustle and bustle, this is an exceptional place. Noble materials mixing woods, bronze, glass and black marble from Zimbabwe, contemporary design, pure lines, furniture from Citerrio, everything comes together to make these 58 rooms and suites the most sought-after resting place in the city.

Gastronomic Italian restaurant, spa with swimming pool and hammam, and quality standards for hotel management established with the Ritz Carlton group make this hotel a real gem, rare and elegant, the object of affection of all chic visitors passing through Milan. The most fortunate will definitely appreciate the penthouse suite with its glass façade providing life-size views on the garden with the city in the background, its elegant teak parquet and the large fireplace radiating warmth in the living room. Amongst the services available, your own personal trainer and personal shopper will help you find just the right size. If you feel like a taste of traffic Milan-style, why not do so at the wheel of a Ferrari or Maserati? available for rent on site!

Boosted by this spectacular launch into the domain of hospitality, Bulgari has since expanded abroad with a resort in Bali and two restaurants, one in each of the nicest neighbourhoods in Tokyo.

Staying in Italy, but leaving Milan, fashionistas will be delighted to discover the various hotels opened by Ferragamo: Five establishments in Florence and recently one in Rome in partnership with Lungarno Hotels. The family’s style is obvious, and now it is Leonardo Ferragamo, son of patriarch Salvatore, who manages the group’s hotel business. Each hotel has its own panache and unique features: for example, the Lungarno hotel, the first to be opened in 1995, is very classical, while the Continentale is resolutely modern yet enhanced with a few flashbacks to the 1950s.

The coming months should see confirmation of the Italian fashion house hotel trend with two openings expected in Milan.

For a while now, we have heard tell of a Moschino hotel, which is supposed to be built in a former rail station, Viale Monte Grappa, and provide 54 rooms and 15 suites in a magical, up-to-the-minute style.

Speculation has also been making the rounds about a 95-room Armani hotel, including some of the largest rooms in Milan, and capped off with a gastronomic restaurant overlooking the city’s rooftops. There was also the possibility of a Dubai hotel, occupying 37 of the 166 floors of the Burj Dubai high-rise, but in the wake of the recent financial troubles there, the Milanese fashion house has not let out a stitch of information. As for their restaurants, after the Paris location in St Germain des Prés, you can now eat Armani in New York in the new 5th Avenue boutique: a chic setting for sophisticated spaghetti, served without a knife in the greatest respect of Italian tradition.

Despite some rumours, no hotel nor restaurant in sight for Gianfranco Ferré (www.gianfrancoferre.com) but a notable entry into the domain of hospitality and well-being with the opening of a Angelo Caroli spa in the famous Milan boutique of the sizzling designer, to ensure some deep relaxation between two fittings. Clearly, fashion in Italy is no longer just a question of silks and cottons, perfumes and jewels, but an intention to take care of us, night and day, for our pleasure and benefit.