3' min read
3' min read
Having a beach club on the rugged and impervious coast of Liguria, especially in the fascinating Gulf of Tigullio beloved by Ernest Hemingway and Truman Capote, is a privilege that only few can boast. The Grand Hotel Bristol, a five-star hotel overlooking the Portofino promontory, is celebrating its 120th anniversary and has given itself a special gift: the management of the Marina di Bardi beach club, between Rapallo and Zoagli, a facility that has just opened to the public (not only to hotel guests) with an offer that includes a well-equipped beach, sun terrace, hydromassage pool, massages, pieds dans l'eau restaurant, bar and parking for 30 cars. Accessible by sea or land in a few minutes from the hotel, the bathing establishment with a view of the sunset enriches the range of experiences on which the Bristol is aiming to grow.
The hotel's 120th anniversary will be celebrated on 21 June with an evening of music and entertainment. The building, characterised by its Art Nouveau façade, dates back to 1904, when the Ligurian coast was frequented by English and northern European tourists who chose the mild climate to spend the winter among the olive trees, mastic trees and myrtles. The first ownership was by the Costa family (the same family as the cruise company, of Corsican origin), who wanted to create the most modern hotel of the time, equipping each room with a private bathroom and providing lift travel between floors. Between the 1950s and 1960s, the hotel was a symbol of the Dolce Vita and hosted personalities who made history in the 20th century, from the Nobel Prize winner for literature André Gide to the founder of the Bauhaus, Walter Gropius; from the heads of state and government who signed peace treaties here to the artists Adrian Stokes and Charles Buls who painted the panorama admired from the windows.
Today, the hotel - 80 rooms, 72 of which with a sea view - is owned by the Rocchi family from Como, who have included it in their 'R Collection' group of high-end hotels and have decided to invest in raising its positioning and expanding its services (there is the largest hotel spa in Liguria, two thousand square metres), declaring it Dolce Vita 2.0: from 2023, the Bristol will in fact go from four to five stars. The first restyling operation involved the renovation of the rooms, the second - expected by 2025 - is the renovation of the ground floor, with the common areas, reception, and bar.
The hotel led by general manager Riccardo Bortolotti is now focusing on quality food: the fine-dining restaurant on the top floor, with a breathtaking view of the Gulf of Portofino, has been joined by an Italian bistro and a poolside pizzeria, all led by chef Andrea Cannalire, who also oversees the Marina di Bardi, where he has brought the novelty of 'sea pastries'.
The 2024 season promises to be positive on the attendance front, even if the start was marked by bad weather that pushed many customers to revise their plans. In 2023 the turnover of the Gran Hotel Bristol exceeded 6.6 million, this year the objective - as Bortolotti explains - is to reach 8 million euros with the traditional 60-70% of foreigners: in the first row the Americans, followed by the British who have always frequented the area.
