A History Over 160 Years Long

Since 1864 our family has led a tradition of hospitality in Bellagio, a tradition carried on with care and attention through more than 160 years of Italian history.

On the shore of the harbor stood an old boarding house on the remains of an ancient fortified fortress (it was the house of the Captain of the Lario); Luigi Gramatica transformed the building and gave it the name Hotel Florence in 1864. Along the shores of the village were cafes and restaurants; further north, also on the lakeshore, attached to the Hotel Florence was the “Caffè Ristorante Bellagio.” According to bellagine chronicles, the old tavern, built on the old part of the fortification, was reportedly opened in 1850.

Luigi Gramatica and Carolina Gilardoni had 3 children: Angioletta Gramatica married Richard Ketzlar, then Renato and his children Ronny and Roberta followed; with their passing it will be their children, Timmy Aaron and Christian, who will follow the family tradition.

It is an important period experienced in terms of history, as it saw the hotel come into being during the period when Florence was the capital of the Kingdom of Italy: the fleur-de-lis that accompanies the hotel’s name is actually an effigy of the Tuscan city. At that time, Italy was ruled by a monarchy headed by King Victor Emmanuel II of Savoy: since then many events have followed after the Unification of Italy, not least two world wars, and then to a Republic and the events of the present day.

Bellagio, moreover, has an innate vocation for tourism that finds its roots as far back as the Roman Empire, where numerous written records confirm that even Pliny the Younger (1st century AD) described in a letter the times he spent vacationing at his villa in Bellagio, where he hunted, studied and wrote in the beautiful setting of the Lario; this is in fact how Lake Como was called by the Romans.

Even today, our commitment is unchanged over time, the dna of welcoming and hospitality has remained a cornerstone of our tradition and making our guests feel “at home” is a duty we feel is rooted in our way of being and living, long before it became a job.