Every hotel is much more than just a place to vacation
Some hotels, though, are really very special. Among these is the BEST WESTERN Grand Hotel Royal in Viareggio, a historical establishment in the Tuscan city that, in over a century, has entwined its destiny with extraordinary events and unique personalities.
Today, as in the past, a hotel can provide an incomparable experience of hospitality. Thanks to its magnificent location, the attentive staff and – last but not least – the rooms that this year give guests a chance to relive a magical time in history. Five hotel rooms were entirely renovated to allow guests staying there to travel backward in time: the modern concept of a holiday was born at the start of the twentieth century, and Viareggio was experiencing a period of splendour recognised worldwide.
These were the years in which the hotel was home to the Sheik of Qatar who, along with his monumental entourage, monopolised the whole hotel for months on end. With a desire to create a lasting connection with the time period, the hotel management decided to refurbish ten rooms and furnish them with original period pieces used in the hotel.
These unique items of antique furniture offer guests the possibility of reliving a moment in time that is distant but familiar, because we are able to appreciate the beauty, uniqueness and style that withstands the passing of time.
Other illustrious guests include the Princes of Russia, who enjoyed the hotel at the beginning of the century. The hotel was entirely renovated and then re-opened in 1925, during a period that saw the birth of a new way of spending the summer: the holiday.
As early as the end of the First World War, despite the bomb raids and destruction, Viareggio did not lose heart. Its enterprising citizens found new enthusiasm and started to rebuild quickly and effectively. Buildings, hotels and beach establishments were restored, and this confirmed the city’s vocation to hospitality. Even Benito Mussolini chose the BEST WESTERN Grand Hotel Royal for his vacation, as did the Princes of Belgium.
The European nobility and representatives of public institutions gave great input to the city and also to the hotel, which was experiencing a good period and would return to its maximum level of splendour after WWII and during the years of the economic boom. Artists, actors and actresses of the Italian film industry, the first “stars” of the 1950s like Walter Chiari, Gina Lollobrigida, Silva Koscina, Franco Interlenghi and Lelio Luttazzi chose this hotel for their holidays because of the certainty that their privacy would be respected.
In fact, privacy was already becoming important for artists.