Italy was the first European nation to be battered by the pandemic, but the country is bouncing back. “Italy is poised for a boom in tourism. As restrictions begin to lift, we will see people flocking to the country,” says Marriott’s senior vice president of luxury brands Chris Gabaldon.
Last year, Network of Architecture (NOA) completed Floris, a collection of 10 treehouse suites part of the Parc Hotel Florian in South Tyrol. A few hours south, the transformation of J.K. Place Firenze into the Place Firenze is underway by local studio Luigi Fragola Architects. Venice will add Ca’ di Dio to its luxury hotel mix. Set in a 13th-century ecclesiastical compound, it will feature interiors redolent of a Venetian mansion by Milan-based Patricia Urquiola.
The panoramic loft at the Place Firenze, designed by Luigi Fragola Architects
Much is percolating in the capital, too. In the spring, the Hoxton will plant its flag there, with Ennismore Design Studio in collaboration with Fettle taking over a 1970s building in the Parioli neighborhood. It will be joined by Soho House Rome this summer, Ian Schrager’s EDITION in the fall (by engineer Cesare Pascoletti and architect Marcello Piacentini), and the Six Senses Rome, which will mark the brand’s first foray into Italy in 2022 with the restoration of an 18th-century palazzo, led by Urquiola. CEO Neil Jacobs also has his sights set on Umbria, where Six Senses Antognolla will open in a 12th-century castle on the site of a Benedictine monastery and crypt in 2023, courtesy of Woods Bagot and Tokyo’s Design Studio Spin. “Umbria is less visited than Tuscany yet equally as beautiful, bountiful, and easily accessible,” he says.
Milan firms GaS Studio and Parisotto + Formenton Architetti are behind the Casa di Langa, a sustainable wellness resort opening in Italy’s Piedmont region, shown in a rendering
This year will also see the debuts of Casa di Langa in Piedmont and Villa Igiea, part of Rocco Forte Hotels, in Palermo. Opening this summer, London studio Nicholas Haslam will overhaul the turn-of-the-century palazzo in partnership the company’s director of design Olga Polizzi.
One of the Cosy guestrooms at the Hoxton, Rome, by Ennismore Design Studio and Fettle Design
Photos and renderings by Alex Filz, P + F | GaS Studio, and courtesy of the Hoxton and the Place Firenze
