Austrian Jp Immobilien acquires a residence in Trieste. Continuing its investment programme, just a few days after having acquired the Milano Hotel in Madonna di Campiglio, which will become a lifestyle property, it has now taken over the Residence del Mare Casa Minelli in Trieste. This operation, as in the case of the Trentino property, was handled by its Jp Hospitality Investors Club company. 

A 3-star with 36 apartments

The hotel is in a pedestrian area in the old historical centre near Piazza Unità d’Italia which is close to the promenade and the port. It has 36 short-&-long-stay apartments with kitchenettes. The 3-star property is in good condition but will undergo a light restyling with a view to marketing it as a lifestyle product.

Jp Immobilien’s 5th Italian acquisition 

This is the fifth acquisition for the Austrian group which earlier this year took over the Italian State Railway’s Palazzo Compartimentale for €10 million. The plan is to convert this property into a 4-star with 159 rooms as a 25hours, the second of the Accor-Ennismore brand in Italy following the debut of the Florence property.

Debut for the Lhp Group’s new 5-star Napoli Palace & Spa.The former 70-room 4-star Serius, located in a logistically strategic area near Fuorigrotta in the suburbs of Naples, has undergone restyling and repositioning. With this acquisition the Lhp portfolio now counts five properties that include four other directly owned hotels: the 32-room 5-star River Hotel & Spa in Florence, the 53-room Santa Margherita Palace in Liguria, the 63-key Montecatini Palace in Tuscany, and the 4-star Hotel Napoleon in Milan.

Many new hotel openings in Naples

There is a lot happening just now in Naples as, following the relatively recent opening of the Curio Collection by Hilton The Britannique Naples, two further 5-star openings are on the way, with a total of some 200 rooms. These are the W Naples (in the former Banca di Roma building) and the conversion of Palazzo Sirignano. Naples is also expected to host the Italian debut of the Marriott group's Residence Inn extended-stay brand, as well as a new lifestyle property in the former Il Mattino newspaper headquarters which will be restyled.

With the special October and November offers from the 5-star Hanswirt Resort near Merano come and discover the unspoiled South Tyrolean region.

Luxurious holidays inspired by tradition

With trails to be enjoyed on foot or by bicycle starting from the hotel, these are luxurious holidays inspired by tradition. The property boasts a large panoramic relaxation area with five saunas, a spa and Jacuzzi as well as indoor and outdoor pools

Bike rentals at the hotel

City bikes, mountain bikes and e-bikes can be booked at the Hanswirt Resort. One of the most beautiful cycle routes in South Tyrol is the 120-kilometre Val Venosta cycle path that leads along the Adige River, through meadows, woods, villages and orchards up to Mals. 

Many activities including abseiling

The Gsund bleibm! health programme includes various activities proposed by the Parcines Tourist  Association. One is to the Pacines waterfall which is only a 90-minute walk from the Hanswirt Resor. And for the more courageous, there is also the opportunity to try abseiling next to the waterfall.

Cable cars to mountain plateaux

Those wanting to go higher can use the two cable cars in Parcines. The Texelbahn cable car takes you to the Sonnenberg, the southern slope of the valley of the Texel Group Nature Park. The Aschbach cable car climbs up to Nörderberg, which is covered with dense forests and is very popular with mountain bikers. It is also home to the Vigiljoch plateau with its numerous hiking trails.

Discounts in museums and on ski lifts

The Guest Card 2022, the advantage card of the Merano region, gives guests discounts in 100 museums and for many ski lifts. And the hotel has a series of special packages for October and November, like the Hanswirt Relaxation Days that includes four nights, between 17 and 29 October 2022 starting from €570.00 per person.

Autumn getaways

Then there are the Autumn Week package of seven nights in Hanswirt Resort, between 17 October and 16 November starting from €1,296.00 per person, and  the Riesling and Pampering programme that includes four nights from 29 October to 2 November, starting from €725.00 per person.

For information https://www.hanswirt.com/en/hotel/come-home/offers/

The summer boom may not have been enough to get Italy’s hotels back on their feet again after the two pandemic years.

A difficult autumn is looming on the not too distant horizon, and indeed in many cases is already a reality as energy prices rise to unheard of levels.

According to the latest findings from Confindustria Alberghi, the summer of 2022 was a booming one, with July occupancy rates exceeding 80% while August was often close to sold out. Seaside and mountain holidays did very well, but the real turnaround was the revival of interest in the art cities especially from foreign markets. This growth was driven by Europe but even more so by the United States, which also benefited from the particularly favourable Euro-dollar exchange rate.

"These are important numbers, and they restore confidence in tourism," says Maria Carmela Colaiacovo, president of Confindustria Alberghi, "but we are still not out of the woods. While there  is a strong recovery in demand for September and good potential for the autumn, energy costs have reached unsustainable levels.” 

In July, according to a Federalberghi estimate, hotel energy bills were three times higher than in July 2021. And the numbers are staggering: a total €3.8 billion, with an average cost of around €120 thousand for each property (€94,000 for electricity and €26,000 for gas) and prices are still rising. Meaning that over 18% of the sector's turnover is being eaten up by electricity and gas. A complex challenge, and unless adequate measures are taken Italy’s hotels are in for an icy shower.   
 

Massimiliano Sarti
Journalist

Mangia's new brand strategies focus on accessible luxury and future developments. Aiming to create a continuum between indoor and outdoor areas, the management plans to dialogue with nature and local concerns.

Unveiling early details of the strategies it intends pursuing in light of the resources available under the new joint venture signed in December with Blackstone's European subsidiary Hotel Investment Partners (Hip), €85 million euro will be allocated to the renovation of six of the Sicilian brand's 13 resorts.

These include the Costanza near the Selinunte archaeological park, which has just reopened following a €3.8 million renovation, the first completed investment of the plan announced with the US financial company.

Looking at new markets

The new Costanza Resort highlights Mangia’s entrepreneurial philosophy aimed at consolidating its position in the premium hospitality segment, and aiming at international development with particular attention not just to arrivals from Italy but also from France and Northern Europe. In the pre-Covid era the hotel was in fact marketed exclusively by Alpitour and Tui for France, but the pandemic has forced the Group to rethink its distribution strategies, which are now being extended to other operators and to include all available channels.

“We will redevelop four of our six resorts by 2023”

"We are proud to present the new Costanza Resort, which has a major symbolic value for our company and testifies to the solidity of the partnership in place with Hip," said Marcello Mangia, president of the Aeroviaggi Group, to which the hotel brand belongs. "This is a first important step. By 2023 as part of the joint venture we plan to complete the redevelopment of four of the six resorts under the partnership agreement.”

Marcello Mangia with the mayor of Sciacca, Fabio Termine

Looking at the adults-only market

Mangia also plans to gradually create a new product segmentation with a clear market positioning in the accessible luxury sector: "We have the idea of subdividing into clubs and 5-star resorts more suited to families, as well as properties for the adults-only market, which is what we are launching with the Costanza Resort,” said chief innovation officer Ugo Parodi Giusino. 

Harmonizing outdoor and indoor areas

The aim is also to enhance links with the territory, which in the case of the newly reopened Costanza Resort means collaborating with the municipalities of Castelvetrano and Sciacca, as well as with the Selinunte archaeological park. There are also plans to harmonize outdoor and indoor areas, while future development plans, according to an insider, seem to be directed mainly towards Apulia.

The aim is to boost arrivals to Selinunte

"Something is changing. We are beginning to create a system and, above all, serious entrepreneurs are starting to appear, though there is still much to be done,- said Enzo Alfano, mayor of Castelvetrano which includes Selinunte. -In the pre-Covid era Selinunte’s archaeological park recorded around 340 thousand visitors annually against Siracusa's eight million. But here too things are improving. We will soon be able to count on a calendar of theatrical and cultural events that will contribute to increasing the destination's appeal, and it will be published in time for tour operators to include it in their programmes.” 

Ivano Ferrazzoli gm Costanza Resort with left deputy director Gianluca Interrante (Mangia's brand)

New entry in Turin for the B&B Hotels group with the B&B Hotel Torino President, it’s second hotel in the Piedmont city and its third in the region.

Located near the Environment Park, the B&B Hotel Torino President is just one kilometre from Porta Susa Station and just over two from the city centre. It has 72 rooms, including some triple and quadruple rooms.

“Our third property in Piedmont and the second in Turin”

"We are proud to continue with our expansion plan and to announce the acquisition of our third property in Piedmont, which is the second in Turin – says the president and CEO of B&B Hotels Italia, Valerio Duchini. - We are proceeding at a relentless pace, confirming the major investment we intend making in Italy, guaranteeing numerous opportunities in terms of employment, local development and hospitality in various regions and cities.”

The Bulgarella Group has acquired the former Sicilian summer-camp of Balestrate.

This comes following the purchase, in June last year, of the former Ligurian Olivetti summer camp in Sarzana.

The latter is to be transformed into a 5-star hotel for an investment of €15 million euros with work starting next month. And now comes the news that the group has also purchased the De Gasperi in Balestrate, Sicily, which it plans to convert into a 5-star resort to the tune of some €15 million.

Rooms, suites and independent units

The group has outlined plans for approximately 127 rooms, suites, and small independent units, as well as bars, restaurants, swimming pools and hotel services. Included in the group’s plans is the redevelopment of the access road to the new hotel complex, which will return a stretch of waterfront and a pedestrianised promenade to the townspeople.

“We strongly believe in our Group’s development in Sicily.”

“We are happy to be able to carry out this important project in Sicily - explains the Bulgarella group’s hotel sector general manager, Ray Lo Faso. - Despite the difficulties and bureaucratic delays we still strongly believe in our Group’s development in this region.”

Bulgarelli owns 30 properties in four regions

The Bulgarella Group had already completed a similar project in Calambrone, in the province of Pisa, on the Toscana Charme Resort which was formerly another marine summer-camp. Today it owns 30 properties in four regions, including the Monasteri Golf Resort in Siracusa, the Mulini Resort, the Tonnara di Bonagia and the Venere di Erice in Trapani, the Grand Hotel Palazzo in Leghorn and the Grand Hotel Misurina in Belluno.

The Bwh Group expands in Sardinia with the Best Western Blumarea in Castelsardo,  the latest of its properties in Italy. The hotel reopens for the 2022 summer season at the end of a major restyling of the public areas, rooms, outdoor facilities and the swimming pool.

The renovation project was supervised by architect Sergio Bizzarro, who focused on blue in a natural reference to the new name of the hotel and to the sea.

“The name evokes the colours of our island” 

"We met with Bwh more than two years ago - explains general manager, Paola Sini,  - and together we took strategic decisions for the re-launch and re-opening of the property. Starting from the new name, which evokes the colours of our island, to the commercial and marketing aspects, positioning and distribution.”

The beach is just 100 metres from the hotel

The design of the 53 rooms also reflects the colours of Sardinia. The hotel also has two meeting rooms for up to 50 and 150, and a lounge bar that is also open to non-resident guests. The Lu Bagnu beach is only 100 metres from the property, and beach umbrellas and sun loungers can be hired at the hotel. For pool lovers the hotel also has an area with a solarium, parasols, sun beds and beach towels.

The historic centre of Venice will soon be accessible only on reservation and by paying an entrance ticket that will fluctuate pricewise depending on the number of visitors expected.

Approved in 2019 by the City Council, and then suspended due to the pandemic, the date has now been fixed at 16 January 2022. It was welcomed by the Minister of Tourism Massimo Garavaglia who has ventilated the idea of extending it to other destinations, setting off a chorus of approval for what is seen as a sustainable panacea to excess tourist flows. 

The system is simplicity itself: from 2023 a city pass of €3 to €10 per person will be required to enter the city. Visitors can book in advance and will get a QR code with discounts on public transport, in museums and for other attractions. Of course there will be exemptions for residents, students and those working or staying in Venice. Hotel guests in other destinations around Venice will get a 50% discount, while a fixed fee of €7 will be levied on cruise passengers disembarking in the lagoon city.

But, I really have to ask, do they really think, after two years of tourism doldrums, that they can solve over tourism with an entrance fee? Constitutional considerations regarding freedom of movement aside, what strikes me is the absolute lack of imagination. Or of clear thinking. Challenges are faced and overcome only with consideration, intelligence and creativity. Demagogic strokes are pretty useless even when, unfortunately, they generate an easy consensus.

Massimiliano Sarti
Journalist

The Schneider family has recently reopened the doors of Terra-The Magic Place, a Relais & Chateaux with two Michelin stars in the Val Sarentino with breath-taking views of the Dolomites.

The restaurant, which has two Michelin stars, has just received a brand new Green Star, which is awarded to restaurants with the highest levels of culinary sustainability.

An eco-sustainable property

In the period of closure between the winter and summer seasons, the property underwent a restyling that once again emphasises its CO2 neutral heating, thermal insulation, and the use of renewable solar energy. Eco-sustainable philosophies are also at the heart of the property’s culinary offerings with a farm-to-fork approach. Heinrich Schneider himself takes care of the garden which supplies the kitchens where the chef uses home-grown fresh ingredients to create emotional menus.

Italy’s greenest municipality

“We are lucky to live in the greenest municipality in Italy, and the environment here has remained intact. The cows graze in meadowlands and this is expressed in the quality of the meat.”  Gisela expresses her skill at creating the perfect pairings from the wine list which she constantly updates. “We like to express our territory through its food and wine, creating a personalized path to suit each customer’s tastes.”

Ph credits ©Stefano Scatà

Terra - The Magic Place
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