Discover our Boutique
111 Years Of Grand Hotel Tremezzo
Back to Gazette
2021 is a special year, one in which dreams, memories and arithmetic are all on our side. This year, Grand Hotel Tremezzo is celebrating 111 years. No matter how you read this extraordinary number, front to back, back to front or even out of order, it all adds up to the same thing: more than a century of elegance and amazing Italian hospitality. More than a century of stories about our hotel that captivate the wider world and flaunt the charms of the Lake Como experience.
Picture the scene on July 10th, 1910, just hours before the grand opening of Grand Hotel Tremezzo. A few weeks before, the scaffolding had come down to reveal the splendid palace in all its glory. A triumph of the Italian Belle Époque style known as Liberty. “Our” Mariuccia, the daughter of Grand Hotel Tremezzo founders Enea e Maria Gandola, dedicates page after beautiful page in her diary to the frenetic preparations. Everyone hurrying from one floor to another, from the suites to the salons, from the gardens to the kitchens, where Executive Chef Merlini – already a celebrity in his own right – is putting the finishing touches on the menu.
Five hundred guests are expected at the opening festivities. Mere hours before they arrive, Signora Gandola insists on taking the time to mark the occasion with a commemorative photograph of her own family as well as the extended family of the hotel staff. A truly inspiring act. Next to Mariuccia, her brother Giovanni and their parents, everyone on staff poses with pride: from the day porter and the night porter to the entire brigade de cuisine: the chef and the sous chef, the légumier, rôtisseur, poissonnier, potager, saucier and of course the pâtissier, who has crafted a true masterpiece with his perfect, sinfully sweet reproduction of the Grand Hotel Tremezzo. Rounding out the group is Doc, Mariuccia’s beloved dog, a familiar face often seen on walks along the lakeshore or through the hills reflected in these enchanting waters.
On this day, 111 years later, we can honestly say that virtually nothing has changed. The corridors and kitchens are buzzing with the same sense of joy and purpose as they were then, we await our guests with the same thrill of anticipation, and it is still our aim to help them create memories that last a lifetime.
This year, we are pleased to once again gather with the extended family of Grand Hotel Tremezzo and our guests to commemorate the day our magnificent adventure began, to reminisce about our journey amidst one of Italy’s most splendid landscapes and to celebrate a hotel that rises above the rest in its ability to embody the flair, the sun-kissed glow, the fragrance and the carefree spirit of such a paradise.
Also this year, in keeping with our treasured tradition, we will gather for a photograph that brings together the extended family of Grand Hotel Tremezzo and honors their contributions past and present. Together, we will raise a glass to toast these 111 years and many more still to come. May the dreams, the memories and arithmetic continue to work wonders in every euphoric moment at Grand Hotel Tremezzo in a Belle Époque that never ends...
