This picture taken Wednesday, May 13, 2020 shows the frescoed ceilings of the Ritz Ballroom of the St. Regis Rome hotel, built in 1894, in Rome.
Andrew Medichini/Associated Press
This picture taken on Thursday, May 14, 2020, shows the outdoor restaurant overlooking the swimming pool and lake of the historical Grand Hotel Tremezzo, in Tremezzo, on Como Lake, Italy. The hotel dates back to 1901.
Luca Bruno/Associated Press
This picture taken on Thursday, May 14, 2020, shows a bathtub overlooking the lake, reflected on a bathroom mirror of the historical Grand Hotel Tremezzo, in Tremezzo, on Como Lake, Italy. The hotel was built in 1901.
Luca Bruno/Associated Press
This picture taken on Thursday, May 14, 2020, shows an empty restaurant hallway of the historical Grand Hotel Tremezzo, in Tremezzo, on Como Lake, Italy. The hotel dates back to 1901.
Luca Bruno/Associated Press
In this Monday, May 11, 2020 photo, Matteo Vasselli, concierge of Atlante Star Hotel, is silhouetted as he shows the restaurant of the hotel overlooking St. Peter’s Dome, seen in the background, in Rome. The hotel remained open during the lockdown measures due to COVID-19, but has very few if no guests at all.
Alessandra Tarantino/Associated Press
This Monday, May 11, 2020 photo shows a bedroom of the Atlante Star Hotel, in Rome. The hotel remained open during the lockdown measures due to COVID-19, but has very few if no guests at all.
Andrew Medichini/Associated Press
In this Tuesday, May 12, 2020 photo, Stefania Bettoja, one of the owners of Hotel Meditarraneo Bettoja, walks in the empty hall of the hotel, which is currently closed to the public after lockdown measures to prevent the spread of COVID-19 brought national and International leisure travel to a halt, in Rome.
Alessandra Tarantino/Associated Press
In this Tuesday, May 12, 2020 photo, the restaurant hall of the Hotel Meditarraneo Bettoja, is in the dark as the hotel is currently closed to the public after lockdown measures to prevent the spread of COVID-19 brought national and International leisure travel to a halt, in Rome.
Alessandra Tarantino/Associated Press
In this Wednesday, May 13, 2020 photo the breeze blows a curtain of the Audrey Hepburn Suite at the Hotel Hassler, in Rome. The hotel, currently closed to the public after lockdown measures to prevent the spread of COVID-19 brought national and International leisure travel to a halt. Normally during Springtime, it would have an 83%-100% occupancy.
Andrew Medichini/Associated Press
In this Wednesday, May 13, 2020 photo a turtle-shaped lounge chair is enveloped in the dark as curtains are closed at the Hotel Hassler, in Rome. The hotel, currently closed to the public after lockdown measures to prevent the spread of COVID-19 brought national and International leisure travel to a halt. Normally during Springtime, it would have an 83%-100% occupancy.
Andrew Medichini/Associated Press
In this picture taken on Wednesday, May 13, 2020 keys hang at the reception of the Saturnia hotel, founded in 1908, in Venice, Italy. The hotel is currently closed to the public after lockdown measures to prevent the spread of COVID-19 brought national and International leisure travel to a halt.
Antonio Calanni/Associated Press
In this picture taken on Wednesday, May 13, 2020 a piano is lit by light from a window of the Saturnia hotel, founded in 1908, in Venice, Italy The hotel is currently closed to the public after lockdown measures to prevent the spread of COVID-19 brought national and International leisure travel to a halt.
Antonio Calanni/Associated Press
This picture taken on Wednesday, May 13, 2020 shows an empty hall of the Ca’ Nigra lagoon resort hotel along the canal grande in Venice, Italy. The hotel is currently closed to the public after lockdown measures to prevent the spread of COVID-19 brought national and International leisure travel to a halt.
Antonio Calanni/Associated Press
In this picture taken on Wednesday, May 13, 2020 a bed is reflected in the mirror in a bedroom of the Saturnia hotel, founded in 1908, in Venice, Italy. The hotel is currently closed to the public after lockdown measures to prevent the spread of COVID-19 brought national and International leisure travel to a halt.
Antonio Calanni/Associated Press
This Monday, May 11, 2020 photo shows the Rimini Grand Hotel, in Rimini, Italy. The luxury Liberty-style hotel, where carnivalesque Italian director Federico Fellini used to stay, was built in 1908. Parts of the hotel were recreated in Rome’s Cinecittà film studios for some of his movies including ‘Amarcord’ (1973).
Domenico Stinellis/Associated Press
This Monday, May 11, 2020 photo keys stacked in a drawer of the Rimini Grand Hotel, in Rimini, Italy. The luxury Liberty-style hotel, where carnivalesque Italian director Federico Fellini used to stay, was built in 1908. Parts of the hotel were recreated in Rome’s Cinecittà film studios for some of his movies including ‘Amarcord’ (1973).
Domenico Stinellis/Associated Press
This Monday, May 11, 2020 photo shows an empty foyer of the Rimini Grand Hotel, in Rimini, Italy. The luxury Liberty-style hotel, where carnivalesque Italian director Federico Fellini used to stay, was built in 1908. Parts of the hotel were recreated in Rome’s Cinecittà film studios for some of his movies including ‘Amarcord’ (1973).
Domenico Stinellis/Associated Press
In this Monday, May 11, 2020 photo a man does maintenance work by a swimming pool of the Rimini Grand Hotel, in Rimini, Italy. The luxury Liberty-style hotel, where carnivalesque Italian director Federico Fellini used to stay, was built in 1908. Parts of the hotel were recreated in Rome’s Cinecittà film studios for some of his movies including ‘Amarcord’ (1973).
Domenico Stinellis/Associated Press
In this picture taken on Wednesday, May 13, 2020 rose bushes frame an empty garden overlooking a canal at the Ca’ Nigra lagoon resort hotel along the canal grande in Venice, Italy. The hotel is currently closed to the public after lockdown measures to prevent the spread of COVID-19 brought national and International leisure travel to a halt.
Antonio Calanni/Associated Press
This Thursday, May 14, 2020 picture shows the Giuseppe Verdi suite where 19th century composer Giuseppe Verdi, pictured on the painting, stayed, in Milan, Italy. The hotel dates back to 1863.
Luca Bruno/Associated Press
This Thursday, May 14, 2020 picture shows room keys hanging on a wooden board, at the Grand Hotel Et De Milan, where 19th century composer Giuseppe Verdi stayed, in Milan, Italy. The hotel dates back to 1863.
Luca Bruno/Associated Press
This Monday, May 11, 2020 photo shows a suite of the art-deco style Locarno Hotel, in Rome, Monday, May 11, 2020.
Alessandra Tarantino/Associated Press
This Monday, May 11, 2020 photo shows the empty rooftop terrace of the art-deco style Locarno Hotel, in Rome, Monday, May 11, 2020.
Alessandra Tarantino/Associated Press
In this Monday, May 11, 2020 photo, barman Nicholas Pinna wears a protective face mask as he stands behind the cocktail bar of the art-deco style Locarno Hotel, in Rome, Monday, May 11, 2020. Pinna is looking forward to a return to normality, he says he has “lots of hope to restart soon, to see again all our clients which we were used to see here, and to return to working with maximum serenity” as the hotel prepares to welcome back its clients, hopefully soon.
Alessandra Tarantino/Associated Press
ROME – Like lonely grande dames, Italy’s luxury hotels lack company amid the coronavirus pandemic.
Associated Press photographers have captured the atmosphere inside prestigious establishments in Rome, Milan, Venice, on the shores of Lake Como and in Rimini, the Adriatic beach town that inspired native son Federico Fellini’s cinematic vision.
Foreign tourists are the mainstay of these high-priced hotels. But foreigners aren’t allowed yet into Italy because of COVID-19 containment measures in one of the world’s hardest-hit countries. And Italians aren’t yet allowed travel for the purpose of tourism. So these days, elegantly-dressed staff stand at the ready for guests who aren’t likely to step into their grandiose lobbies.
The void in the stylish yet hushed lounges and rooms is notable. Unused keys hang neatly from wooden racks or lie stacked in drawers. There’s no buzz of clients clonking glasses and chatting by the hotels’ swanky cocktail bars.
“It’s the first time in almost 80 years of this hotel’s history, since it was renovated in the 1930s, that it is empty, closed,” says Maurizio Bettoja, who heads the Bettoja hotels, including the Hotel Mediterraneo Bettoja in Rome.
Many of these top-of-the-line, must-stay places for politicians, industrialists and movie stars are steeped in history. The Grand Hotel et de Milan, where 19th-century opera composer Giuseppe Verdi stayed and has a suite dedicated to him, dates back to 1863.
On Lake Como, the Grand Hotel Tremezzo has marble bathtubs overlooking the lake and a posh terrace facing the Alps but no guests to populate them.
At the empty Hotel Hassler, near Rome’s Spanish Steps, management likes to recall that actress Audrey Hepburn – who rode a scooter with Gregory Peck in an iconic scene in the movie “Roman Holiday” – would stay in the same suite each time she visited. Staff say that at this time of year the hotel would be full, or nearly so.
There are no cocktails to mix at the art-deco Hotel Locarno near Rome’s Piazza del Popolo, which has barely had any guests during the pandemic. Yet bartender Nicholas Pinna stands ready to serve as always.
Federalberghi, an Italian hotelier association, predicts that one in five hotel workers in Italy could lose their jobs because of the pandemic-triggered travel restrictions and economic woes. The industry is looking forward to June 3, when Italy reopens both regional and international borders.
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