Grand Hotel Rimini

On 7 March 1906, Rimini's mayor, Camillo Duprè, signed a contract in Milan for the construction of a luxury hotel in Rimini. Its construction was contracted to the Società Milanese Alberghi Ristoranti e Affini (SMARA),{{Cite web |last=Masini |first=Manlio |date=1 June 2021 |title=La tragica fine dell’architetto che progettò il Grand Hotel |trans-title=The tragic end of the architect who designed the Grand Hotel |url=https://www.corriereromagna.it/archivio/la-tragica-fine-dellarchitetto-che-progetto-il-grand-hotel-JQCR235286 |access-date=3 February 2024 |website=Corriere Romagna |language=it-IT}} which managed Rimini's nascent seaside industry. The hotel was intended to attract upmarket tourism, complementing Rimini's Kursaal bathing establishment.{{Cite web |last=Annovazzi Lodi |first=Stefano |date=3 December 2019 |title=Il grand hotel della riviera che faceva sognare Fellini |trans-title=The grand hotel on the riviera that made Fellini dream |url=https://www.elledecor.com/it/viaggi/a29992500/grand-hotel-rimini-foto-storia/ |access-date=3 February 2024 |website=ELLE Decor |language=it-IT}} At a meeting on 21 November 1906, Rimini's municipal council approved the project drawings.

The hotel was designed by architect {{Interlanguage link|Paolito Somazzi|it}}. Though the project was also assigned to his brother, {{Interlanguage link|Ezio Somazzi|it}}, many architectural scholars consider it only the work of Paolito: Ezio was then in his early architectural career.

The hotel was constructed in under two years by the construction company of Giacomo Guazzoni. The hotel was inaugurated on 1 July 1908.

File:Grand Hotel. Fortepan 86320.jpg

On the afternoon of 14 July 1920, the hotel was engulfed by a major fire, which drew firefighters from as far away as Bologna and military soldiers from Rimini's barracks. Opportunists stole from the hotel's rooms. Anacleto Ricci, 17-year-old boy scout, died during the fire as he helped guests evacuate.{{Cite journal |last1= |first1= |year=2014 |title=Dall'album fotografico |trans-title=From the photographic album |url=https://www.rotaryrimini.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/06/ar_67_Ariminum-marzo-aprile-2013.pdf |journal=Ariminum |series=March–April 2014 |language=it-IT |publisher=Rimini Rotary Club |page=50 |access-date=6 February 2024}} His funeral was a well-attended event in the city; Ricci was posthumously awarded a gold medal for civil valour.{{Cite web |last= |first= |date=14 July 2023 |title=14 luglio 1920 - Il Grand Hotel di Rimini va a fuoco |trans-title=14 July 1920 – The Grand Hotel in Rimini catches fire |url=https://www.chiamamicitta.it/14-luglio-1920-grand-hotel-rimini-va-fuoco/ |access-date=3 February 2024 |website=Chiamami Città |language=it-IT}}

On 30 April 1931, Rimini's municipal government purchased the hotel from Banco di Napoli, which had become the hotel's owner over time. Podestà Pietro Palloni entrusted its management to the Società Anonima Immobiliare Adriatica of Bologna, which held it until 1940.

Clara Petacci, mistress of Benito Mussolini, Italy's fascist dictator, would stay at the Grand Hotel during Mussolini's summer holidays at the Villa Mussolini in Riccione.{{Cite news |last= |first= |date=13 May 1977 |title=Rachele Mussolini perde la causa non riavrà più i beni di un tempo |trans-title=Rachele Mussolini loses the case: She will not have again the goods of time ago |url=http://www.archiviolastampa.it/component/option,com_lastampa/task,search/mod,avanzata/action,viewer/Itemid,3/page,21/articleid,1093_01_1977_0103_0022_20425640/ |access-date=7 February 2024 |work=La Stampa |pages=22 |language=it-IT}} It is believed that Pettaci and Mussolini would be escorted by motorboats to secret offshore meetings. Renato Zangheri, future mayor of Bologna, said that he would play tennis with Petacci in the Grand Hotel's courts during her days waiting for the next meeting.{{Cite web |last=Gambini |first=Sergio |date=10 December 2015 |title=Renato Zangheri e Rimini: un profilo frutto di frequentazioni, ricerche e inediti |trans-title=Renato Zangheri and Rimini: A profile resulting from acquaintances, research, and unpublished works |url=https://www.riminiduepuntozero.it/renato-zangheri-e-rimini-un-profilo-frutto-di-frequentazioni-ricerche-e-inediti/ |access-date=13 February 2024 |website=Riminiduepuntozero |language=it-IT}}

During the Second World War, the hotel was occupied by German then Allied forces, hosting military commands.

In 1949, the Grand Hotel hosted a hotel fair, which would be held annually until being moved to Rimini Fiera on 1 December 1968.{{Cite web |date=30 November 2022 |title=1 dicembre 1968 - La Fiera di Rimini inaugura la sua prima sede |trans-title=1 December 1968: Rimini Fiera inaugurates its first location |url=https://www.chiamamicitta.it/1-dicembre-1968-la-fiera-rimini-inaugura-la-sua-sede/ |access-date=3 February 2024 |website=Chiamami Città |language=it-IT}} It hosted four editions of Miss Italia in the 1950s.

At the end of 1952, the hotel's structure was sold to Manfredo Durante, with the obligation to restore the hotel. In 1963, it was bought by Pietro Arpesella.{{Cite web |title=La Suite 315 - Percorso museale Grand Hotel Rimini |trans-title=Suite 315: Museum course Grand Hotel Rimini |url=https://www.bataniselecthotels.it/it-IT/articolo/lasuite315 |access-date=3 February 2024 |website=Batani Select Hotels |language=it-IT}} From 1983 to 1990, comedian {{ill|Paolo Cevoli|it}} worked as a manager in the hotel.{{Cite web |last= |first= |date=29 June 2023 |title=29 giugno 1958 - Nasce a Riccione Paolo Cevoli |trans-title=29 June 1958 – Paolo Cevoli was born in Riccione |url=https://www.chiamamicitta.it/29-giugno-1958-nasce-riccione-paolo-cevoli/ |access-date=3 February 2024 |website=Chiamami Città |language=it-IT}}

In 1994, the Grand Hotel Rimini was recognised as a national monument; it is under the protection of the Superintendent of Fine Arts.

In 1992, the hotel was taken over by Chiacig Advance Hotel, a hotel management company founded by three families (The Chiacig family from Udine, with Alfredo Chiacig as main founder, the Jannotta family from Castione della Presolana-Bergamo and the Bernardi family from Rimini). For many years, the Grand Hotel Rimini was a main sponsor for Mens Sana Basketball Siena.{{Citation needed|date=January 2024}}

In 1997, the hotel was bought by Andrea Angelo Facchi, a local entrepreneur who also acquired San Marino's Grand Hotel Primavera and Rimini's Villa Des Vergers.{{Cite web |last= |first= |date=8 January 2012 |title=Addio a Facchi, il signore dei Grand Hotel |trans-title=Goodbye to Facchi, the lord of the Grand Hotel |url=https://www.ilrestodelcarlino.it/rimini/cronaca/2012/01/09/649343-addio_facchi_signore_grand_hotel.shtml |access-date=7 March 2024 |website=Il Resto del Carlino |language=it}} In 2002, the hotel was bought by Pier Paolo Bernardi and Casto Ianotta. In 2007, it was purchased by Antonio Batani for {{Euro|65 million}}.

The hotel is built in Liberty style, the Italian variant of Art Nouveau. The rooms are decorated with period furniture and an original parquet. Many rooms include balconies, some overlooking the coast.{{Cite news |last=Lane |first=Sarah |date=1 April 2019 |title=Grand Hotel Rimini |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/travel/destinations/europe/italy/emilia-romagna/rimini/hotels/grand-hotel-rimini/ |access-date=3 February 2024 |work=The Telegraph |language=en-GB |issn=0307-1235}} The hotel features large carpets and living rooms. Its reception rooms and corridors are decorated with gilded stucco, with Murano chandeliers lining the corridors.{{Cite news |last=Mills |first=Merope |date=28 May 2005 |title=Italy's latest It resort |url=https://www.theguardian.com/travel/2005/may/28/italy.guardiansaturdaytravelsection |access-date=3 February 2024 |work=The Guardian |language=en-GB |issn=0261-3077}}

The hotel is surrounded by gardens with olive and fir trees, magnolias, and roses.

The 1920 fire destroyed the hotel's two domes on its façade, which added a Nordic touch to the hotel's architecture. The domes' reconstruction was discussed in 2009.

The hotel numbers 121 rooms. Its facilities include a bar, restaurant, spa, indoor swimming pool, sauna, and steam room. It has a private beach, and is the only hotel to have one in Rimini.

The hotel has four regal suites and two Versace design suites. The complex includes a second building across the street, called the Residenza, where there are modern-style rooms. Next to the Grand Hotel stands the Conference Centre. Built in 1992 and equipped with state-of-the-art technological equipment, it hosts national and international meetings and conferences.{{Citation needed|date=January 2024}}

File:Federico Fellini NYWTS.jpg]]The hotel is best known for its association with Italian filmmaker Federico Fellini. In his youth, Fellini worked at the hotel as a caricaturist. Reflecting on his childhood memories, Fellini said of the hotel:

{{Quote|text=Crimes, kidnappings, nights of mad love, blackmails, suicides, the garden of torture, the goddess Kali: everything happened at the Grand Hotel. On summer evenings, it became Istanbul, Baghdad, Hollywood. On the terraces, protected by curtains of thick plants, we could glimpse the bare backs of women who seemed to be made of gold, entwined by male arms in white tuxedos. A scented breeze carried us at times with syncopated music, languid enough to faint.|author=Federico Fellini}}

The Grand Hotel features heavily in Amarcord (1973),{{Cite news |last=Dodson |first=Sean |date=7 July 2008 |title=Top 10 hotels from the movies |url=https://www.theguardian.com/travel/2008/jan/07/hotels.movies |access-date=3 February 2024 |work=The Guardian |language=en-GB |issn=0261-3077}} which won an Oscar for best foreign-language film in 1974. In the film, it is nicknamed {{Lang|it|la vecchia Signora}} (the old lady). The hotel that features in the film is not the one in Rimini: Fellini had built a copy in Cinecittà for the film. Once successful, Fellini would often stay at the hotel's suite 315. The suite's previous guests included Petacci, Farouk of Egypt, Prince Luigi Amedeo, Eleonora Duse, Filippo Tommaso Marinetti, Pietro Mascagni, and Enrico Caruso, who was assigned the suite after asking for a view resembling the Gulf of Naples. Fellini was a good friend of Pietro Arpesella, the hotel's owner.

In summer 1993, Fellini stayed at the Grand Hotel after recovering from an operation for abdominal aortic aeurysm in Zurich. The staff were unable to secure his suite 315,{{Cite web |last=Spadazzi |first=Manuel |date=13 August 2023 |title=Al capezzale di Fellini Quel terribile agosto con il fiato sospeso "Tin bota, Federico" |trans-title=At Fellini's deathbed that terrible August with bated breath: "Tin bota, Federico" |url=https://www.ilrestodelcarlino.it/rimini/cronaca/al-capezzale-di-fellini-quel-terribile-agosto-con-il-fiato-sospeso-tin-bota-federico-1a0fbcc9 |access-date=9 April 2024 |website=Il Resto del Carlino |language=it}} and he stayed in suite 316 instead.{{Cite web |last=Muccioli |first=Maria Cristina |date=14 August 2023 |title=Il marinaretto del Grand Hotel di Rimini che salvò Federico Fellini |trans-title=The sailor from the Grand Hotel in Rimini who saved Federico Fellini |url=https://www.chiamamicitta.it/il-marinaretto-del-grand-hotel-di-rimini-che-salvo-federico-fellini/ |access-date=9 April 2024 |website=Chiamami Città |language=it-IT}} On the afternoon of 3 August, a member of staff found Fellini in his room after suffering a stroke; Fellini later said that he "was saved by an angel dressed as a sailor". He was rushed to Rimini's hospital, and transferred to Ferrara on 20 August. Fellini did not return to Rimini after his hospitalisation, and died in Rome on 31 October 1993.

File:Rimini l'Ostenda d'Italia.jpg

The hotel is the subject of a Romagnol poem by Raffaello Baldini in Ad Nòta (1995);{{Cite journal |last=Foschini |first=Sabrina |year=2020 |title=Canzoniere |trans-title=Songbook |url=https://www.rotaryrimini.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/Ariminum-Settembre-Ottobre-2020.pdf |journal=Ariminum |series=September–October 2020 |language=it-IT |publisher=Rimini Rotary Club |pages=52 |access-date=16 February 2024}} the collection won the Bagutta Prize.{{Cite web |date=9 April 2015 |title=Testata del Candiano, il nome scelto è "Largo Raffaello Baldini" |trans-title=Testata del Candiano: The name chosen is "Largo Raffaello Baldini" |url=https://www.ravennatoday.it/cronaca/testata-del-candiano-il-nome-scelto-e-largo-raffaello-baldini.html |access-date=23 January 2024 |website=RavennaToday |language=it}} In the poem, the narrator says that he goes to the Grand Hotel "whenever I want, towards midday, to drink an {{Lang|it|aperitivo}}", eats olives and chips, circulates among the guests while drinking and smoking, and "[if you] squint your eyes, you seem beautiful yourself".

• Grand Hotel Riccione

{{reflist}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Grand Hotel Rimini}}

Category:Hotels in Italy

Category:Buildings and structures in Rimini

Category:Tourist attractions in Emilia-Romagna

Category:Hotels established in 1908

Category:Hotel buildings completed in 1908