Grand Hotels of the World by ACC Art Books

GRAND HOTEL DES ILES BORROMÉES

STRESA, ITALY

Overlooking the calm waters of Lake Maggiore in Stresa, once a holiday retreat for wealthy European families, is the magnificent Grand Hotel des Iles Borromées. It is one of the area’s most opulent hotels reminding us of an era of old Italian palaces. Its sumptuous rooms have been renovated in traditional style, featuring opulent Liberty – Italian Art Nouveau – interiors, priceless antiques, and fascinating frescoes. Glittering Murano chandeliers hang in gilded rooms where Renaissance and Impressionist paintings line the walls, and six of the hotel corridors have been transformed into miniature art galleries, hung with reproduction artworks from historical periods, such as the Florentine Renaissance, the Roman Baroque and Ancient Greece.

A huge part of the hotel’s charm is its peaceful lakeside location, overlooking the nearby Borromean Islands: two beautiful specks of land dotted with elegant villas and gorgeous gardens a boat ride across the water.

The view captivated American writer Earnest Hemingway who visited regularly, taking it in over a martini from his room at the hotel – always room 106, which today is officially called the Hemingway Suite. He based much of his novel A Farewell to Arms, published in 1929, on the town of Stresa, which he visited for the first time in 1918 when convalescing after getting injured during World War I. His signature is featured in the hotel’s guestbook with a note ‘an old client’.

In 1948, he wagered his most prized possession during a drinking session at the hotel bar. There he met a man, Arnaldo Zamperetti, whose sister Ornella was about to take part in the Miss Italy competition the following evening. They got on well, drank a lot, played billiards together, and traded war stories.

Hemingway commented on the sister’s good looks and said he was sure she would win. If she did, Arnaldo would pay the bar bill, or Hemingway would give up his billiard cue. The brother disagreed, saying she would not win due to political reasons, and he was right.

‘Hemingway lost his billiard stick at the Grand Hotel des Iles Borromées. Although to date nobody knows who paid the bar bill,’ said general manager Mr Gianluigi Mariani. Mr Zamperetti treasured the billiard cue until his death, but his son Aldo recently sold it at auction.

It’s nice to think Hemingway pondered his loss on a wander around the hotel’s art-filled garden, which non-hotel guests are welcome to visit too. Maps showing the ground’s main points of interest are available at the hotel reception. Following its meandering paths leads you to secluded

→ www.borromees.com

corners embellished with mosaic pebbles, polychrome marble, and classical sculptures. The centrepiece is a spectacular reproduction of a marble fountain by Italian sculptor Vincenzo de’ Rossi and features granite stairs, a multi-coloured ornamental design, and mosaic walls.

Non-hotel guests are welcome to explore THE ART-FILLED GARDEN , with meandering paths leading to secluded corners embellished with mosaics and classical sculptures.

TAJ LAKE PALACE

UDAIPUR, INDIA

In 1983, James Bond actor Roger Moore, 200 cast members, crew and stuntmen, and a line-up of Bond girl models arrived in Udaipur, the ‘Venice of the East’, a mystical part of India known for its serene lakes, elaborate palaces, exotic temples and panoramic scenes.

They were in town to film Octopussy, arguably one of the most outrageous Ian Fleming adaptations ever, in which acrobatic females in red leotards answer to Octopussy, their leader and temptress-in-chief (played by Maud Adams). Her home? The Taj Lake Palace, a real-life, ritzy five-star hotel dreamworld with gardens, fountains and landscaped courtyards. It is run by the first-rate Taj Hotel Group and sits elegantly on a 4-acre island (Jag Niwas) in the middle of manmade Lake Pichola, between the cliff-top Monsoon Palace (villain Kamal Khan’s lair in the film) and the City Palace.

This sublime floating haven was originally built for Maharana Jagat Singh II between 1743 and 1746 and is constructed entirely out of white marble – said to have come from the same source as that of the Taj Mahal.

‘It continues the tradition of grand soirees and formal levees hosted here by the royal family of Udaipur,’ said Parvinder Bual, the hotel’s operations and general manager. ‘Encounters at the Taj Lake Palace are like nowhere else in the world. Where else can you meet that special someone at a palace in the middle of a lake?’

Bond arrived here disguised as a crocodile, but today’s guests are shuttled in luxury by boat taxi. ‘When they disembark, we like to shower them in rose petals,’ said Parvinder. ‘In fact, from the moment of arrival –this might sound like a cliché – we treat our guests like royalty. No request, no matter how decadent, is too much,’ he explained. This comes as no surprise since the uniformed butlers – every room comes with round-theclock personal service – are descendants of those who served the Maharana.

It is not unusual to wander the Taj Lake Palace’s pathways mouth agape, taking in all the otherwordly embellishment found at every turn: from the entrance lined with ages-old Belgian mosaics that look as good as new to the stunning weathered carvings of Hindu gods decorating the central sculpture garden or the pool area – shaded by a heart-shaped mango tree – which is surrounded in part by traditional Rajasthani artwork featuring peacock designs. Even the spa floats on a wooden tugboat within view of the hotel.

With such opulence on tap, it comes as no surprise that the roll call of guests is as glamorous as Octopussy’s harem. Diana, Princess of Wales, Vivien Leigh, the late Queen Elizabeth II, and Jackie Kennedy have all holidayed here, no doubt in one of the hotel’s best rooms, such as the Grand Royal Suite. Tucked away in the rear of the palace, it was once the queen’s chamber, featuring an antique swing suspended by decorative gleaming brass chains, certainly fit for a Bond girl.

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www.tajhotels.com/en-in/taj/ taj-lake-palace-udaipur

▲ The Grand Royal Suite features an antique swing suspended by gleaming brass chains.

HOTEL ALFONSO XIII

SEVILLE, SPAIN

‘It took twelve years to build and create this magnificent 148-room hotel,’ said Carlo Suffredini, general manager of Alfonso XIII, a Luxury Collection Hotel in the heart of Seville’s historic Santa Cruz quarter. It’s easy to see why, taking in the sheer size of its palm-framed palatial exterior, not to mention its show-stopping exotic Andalusian design.

‘It’s the unique combination of stature, Neo-Mudejar and Andalusian architecture, and elaborate Moorish, Castilian and Andalusian interior details that gives the hotel its distinctive flavour,’ added Carlo, ‘one which has charmed and continues to charm the international elite, jet-setters, and local society from Seville since the hotel opened in 1929.’

King Alfonso XIII originally commissioned the hotel to accommodate VIP guests, including the royal family, in town for the 1929 Iberian-American Exposition, a world’s fair. Opulent and luxurious, it was the grandest hotel in Seville at the time, if not all of Spain. Today, it’s just as exuberant, and after a nine-month refresh in 2012, much of the original décor remains. Patterned marble floors, mirrored wooden lifts, crystal chandeliers, gleaming metallic in bathrooms, and brightly coloured azulejo tiles from the local kilns of the Triana neighbourhood over the Guadalquivir River.

Its picture-perfect communal areas are extraordinary, from the flowering courtyard where breakfast is served to the elegant outdoor swimming pool and decadent-looking cocktail lounge, Bar Americano.

The 200-square-metre Alfonso XIII Royal Suite is the largest room, complete with a bedroom, a living room, a dining area for eight guests, two bathrooms, and exquisitely furnished with antiques dating back to 1928, including a spectacular bargueño cabinet desk with mother-of-pearl inlays –a gift from the one-time Aga Khan to the hotel. To make the room bigger, it can be connected to another suite with office space and direct access to the library, complete with the table King Alfonso XIII used during his stays at the hotel.

The Countess of Barcelona and mother of King Juan Carlos I, María de las Mercedes de Borbón y Orleáns, is the Royal Suite’s most accomplished guest. She used to stay in this suite on her frequent journeys to Seville. Despite its regal status, the suite is not exclusively reserved for royalty. Personalities to have rested their heads on its duck-feather pillows include Madonna and Tom Cruise as well as Sophia Loren, Ava Gardner, Edward Kennedy, Mikhail Gorbachov, Juan Antonio Samaranch and Diana, Princess of Wales.

‘Together with our Maria Eugenia Royal Suite, our royal suites have been named Spain’s Leading Hotel Suites at the World Travel Awards for two consecutive years,’ added Carlo.

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www.hotel-alfonsoxiii-sevilla.com

▶ Princess Grace and Prince Rainier of Monaco visited the hotel in 1966.

LE SIRENUSE

POSITANO, ITALY

Dinner at the Michelin-starred La Sponda restaurant is reason alone to visit the legendary Sirenuse in popular Positano on Italy’s famous Amalfi coast. It promises an unrivalled romantic dining experience, its fairytale plantfilled white dining room lit with 400 flickering candles while musicians play traditional Italian music in the background on the guitar and mandolin.

With its stunning cliffside setting, views over the tumble of village houses, the colourful maiolica dome of Santa Maria Assunta and the beach, the oxblood-coloured Le Sirenuse is one of the Mediterranean’s grand hotels, sophisticated and cool yet with the feel of a private home.

‘We went to the Sirenuse, an old family house converted into a first-class hotel, spotless and cool, with grape arbours over its outside dining rooms. Every room has its little balcony and looks out over the blue sea to the islands of the sirens from which those ladies sang so sweetly,’ wrote American writer John Steinbeck in 1953 in an article for Harper’s Bazaar two years after the hotel opened in 1951.

‘The name of the hotel has its roots in the mythological name of the Island of the Sirens, also known as Li Galli, believed to be the ones just in front of the hotel,’ said owner Antonio Sersale, son of Franco Sersale one of the four Neapolitan siblings who founded the hotel.

Reunited after the Second World War at their private seaside residence, Franco, together with Aldo, Paolo, and Anna, decided to open it to guests from around the world. Before long, they had created a small luxury resort that soon ranked among the world’s most celebrated seaside hotels. Their decision changed the face of what was then a poor, remote fishing and farming community and set a direction for this stretch of the Italian coast and future generations of the Sersale family.

Fifty years on, the original house still feels like a private home despite being extended into a chic and sophisticated 58-suite hotel which offers all the comforts of a five-star luxury hotel. ‘The fact that it feels like being a private family-run house is what makes Le Sirenuse special,’ said Antonio. His father, Franco Sersale, an avid globetrotter and keen amateur photographer, takes much of the credit for the hotel’s current appearance and mix of European antiques, Neapolitan paintings and curiosities. Many of the objects he collected now fill the whitewashed, light-filled rooms with classic Positano views and Vietri-tiled floors. ‘The tiles, which are specially designed for the hotel, are hand-made and baked in an oven that is brought to life by burning straw to heat it,’ explained Antonio.

▲ Le Sirenuse owner Aldo Sersale (on the right), shows Princess Margaret around Positano in 1973.

▲ The Sersales playing cards on the terrace of their Positano family villa in the 1940s before they tranformed it over time into Le Sirenuse.

CARLTON CANNES

CANNES, FRANCE

Since the Carlton Cannes opened on the elite Croisette Boulevard in 1913 it has embodied the chic flavour of the French Riviera – now more than ever after an epic two-year refurbishment in which its original details have been skilfully preserved and the space modernised. Original colours have been unearthed under layers of paint, and two turn-of-the-century painted frescoes lining the domes revealed hidden under the faux ceiling, alongside the addition of two new wings, a landscaped garden, and an infinity pool, to name a few delights.

Sashaying in through the century-old wood revolving doors of the gleaming new Carlton Cannes, you emerge in an elegant, modern, lightfilled lobby with endlessly high ceilings and a curved white ceramic ‘conciergerie’ desk tucked into a corner by reception.

‘The hotel has been designed as a destination in itself, with plenty of surprises that await,’ said general manager Giuseppe Vincelli. ‘Our guests can choose whether they overlook the effervescence of the buzzy Croisette or the tranquil garden lined with peristyles that lead to our infinity pool. This beauty of contrast has been our leitmotiv and makes the Carlton Cannes the ultimate sanctuary.’

The hotel has been a magnet for global events since the beginning: the setting for the League of Nations conference in 1922 after the end of World War I and, more recently, the G20 summit in 2011. But it is best known as the headquarters of the motion picture industry deal-making, every May since 1946 for the Cannes Film Festival. The Carlton Cannes has played host to a stellar cast over the years, like Grace Kelly and Cary Grant, the stars of Alfred Hitchcock’s 1954 film To Catch a Thief. They stayed here while filming scenes, several of which take place in the hotel and on its private beach.

In one scene, Grace Kelly has dinner in the Grand Salon – now an elaborate function room – which, decades later, still entices Grace Kelly fans to the hotel for a glimpse of the setting. In contrast, the hotel’s guest managers wear Grace Kelly-inspired uniforms of floaty pleated skirts and short beige jackets. Hitchcock is also said to have hosted a formal dinner for 300 guests at the hotel in 1963 following a screening of The Birds at the Cannes Film Festival.

Several rooms in the hotel honour the property’s legacy of famous faces. The renovated 623 Alfred Hitchcock Suite celebrates the director, along with others which include the Grace Kelly Suite, the Cary Grant Suite, the Sean Connery Suite, and the Katara Suite, which pays tribute to the hotel’s owners.

Another, the Suzanne Lenglen Suite, pays tribute to the eponymous tennis legend, who famously played in the final of the Cannes tournament of 1926, and won against her American rival: Helen Wills, a rising star and the only one able to challenge her. It was one of the most anticipated matches in

→ www.carltoncannes.com

the history of women’s tennis, played on the hotel’s clay court. Some say this led to the fashion of having clay courts and led the way for Roland Garros to become the only Grand Slam tournament played on clay.

The hotel has been designed as A DESTINATION IN ITSELF , with plenty of surprises that await.

GRAND HOTELS OF THE WORLD

Ellie Seymour

Text editing

Sandy Logan

Final editing

Hadewijch Ceulemans

Photo editing

Ellie Seymour

Graphic design

Joke Gossé

D/2023/12.005/24

ISBN 9789460583513 NUR 500

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