An Interview with Valentina De Santis, CEO of Grand Hotel Tremezzo in Italy's famed Lake Como
LIVE from Lake Como: AFAR's Annie Fitzsimmons & Valentina De Santis talked about why Lake Como will always be a dream destination, the differences between American and European travelers, the food you can’t miss at the hotel, the secrets of Italian hospitality, and more.
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Afar.com is a digital and print magazine that publishes travel tips, guides, news, and stories: https://www.afar.com
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Follow AFAR on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AfarMedia
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TravelTranscript
00:00 So I'm here with Valentina DeSantis, who is the CEO and owner of the Grand Hotel
00:05 Tramezzo in Lake Como and I love this hotel so much. I was here once four years
00:11 ago and I'm back again and I just it's just there's so much soul and it's
00:14 obviously family-owned and I love it so thank you for talking with me today
00:18 after. Thank you, I'm super special to you guys. Thank you and I consider you a dear friend and I think that it's just nice to be
00:28 together after months of Zoom. So I wanted to you know first talk about your
00:35 family has owned this since the 1970s. We're actually in the Greta Garbo suite
00:39 which she most likely stayed here or nearby. You know four to five months ago
00:45 we didn't think that it would be possible to come to Italy and of course
00:47 sadly it's still closed to Americans but it won't be forever so we will have
00:52 people coming back hopefully sooner than we think and I'll ask you about that but
00:56 first I wanted to ask you you know why is Lake Como forever gonna be a
01:00 dream destination for people? I think that one of the attitudes that Lake Como
01:07 has and makes it a kind of unique place is that it's very much like making a
01:13 step back in time when you arrive here. The shores are completely untouched
01:18 since decades if not centuries. You see beautiful villas and gardens so it's a
01:25 place where time looked like it was stopped but at the same time especially
01:31 in the last let's say five to ten years it's a destination that was able to
01:35 reinvent itself a lot. So it became able to attract a new younger crowd
01:42 very much of the new generation of high net worth individuals and
01:51 of course this was a very positive circle I would say that pushed us
02:00 also to keep on investing and making things more attractive and making the
02:05 destination look good, cool, appealing with new activities to do, good food,
02:11 good experiences, nice restaurants, beautiful things to do and so it's
02:16 this kind of mix of past and present of being timeless but at the same time very
02:24 much under the radar and the place to be that makes it I think very unique and
02:31 hopefully a desired destination for many years to come as well. People dream of it
02:38 of course they dream of all of Italy but Lake Como has a special place in
02:42 people's hearts. And what is you know the Italian spirit of hospitality what does
02:45 that mean to you? What do you think that is? I think it's different right? Yeah it's
02:49 something that we have very much into our DNA in fact if you think any so many
02:53 Italian hotels that are legendary and very very much inspiring for all the
02:59 travel industry are family owned and this is something that happened almost
03:05 all in Italy it's not of course only but there's such a high number of very
03:11 famous and iconic especially in the luxury segment but yeah this is actually
03:17 all over the hospitality industry in Italy is still belonging to families so
03:25 it's really a big a big part of the of the offer Italy has and all the families
03:32 like us that still own a place like this put a lot of passion and a lot of their
03:38 time a lot of their efforts and all their the entrepreneurs spirit into into
03:46 their places to to make their work. This is part of our culture so being
03:50 hospitable even outside of the travel industry even just with friends
03:55 Italian are usually very warm and hospitable so if you translate this
04:01 into hospitality is even more and is even more part of our history and
04:06 tradition. Do you think that will help in the recovery because people trust
04:09 family-owned of course more in that that level of hospitality? Yeah I think this
04:15 will make a little bit of difference of course the Italian spirit was
04:20 always the one to be resilient resisting this moment and and especially for us
04:26 because I mean I can say personally seeing the hotel closed was one of the
04:34 things that made me suffer most during the lockdown and everything you cannot
04:39 imagine how much I cried my mom cried the first time we got back and so I
04:44 think that the fact that there is a family behind the hotel makes you feel
04:49 more comfortable because actually for speaking for me personally having a
04:55 guest is my personal responsibility so of course a family takes every single
05:02 guest like a personal guest to make sure that your guests are happy and safe in
05:08 this moment and feel happy and safe. So before I came I got this email and it
05:12 was saying you know we'll do everything we can to make you feel safe and
05:15 comfortable and I love the word that the email used it was tailoring right so
05:20 this personalization for where guests are coming from because obviously guests
05:24 have different levels of comfort and people who are traveling now are
05:27 probably a little more you know they'll take a little more risk right and people
05:32 traveling and other people won't travel for a long time so can you talk about
05:35 that and how you came up with this you know the safety standards and those
05:40 sorts of things? Yeah so before deciding when to open how to open we had
05:47 we had many discussions then actually the decision to reopen was taken like
05:52 this so we were in a very depressive Friday zoom call with my team that like
06:00 one million zoom call of lasting five hours each day and and then we just say
06:08 why we don't I mean decide a date this this was really the first moment when we
06:15 really understood the numbers in Italy were improving and that the fact the end
06:21 of the lockdown was certain when we really understood that the dates were
06:25 final so that in June Italy was going to going back to normality it was just
06:32 taken like this so why we don't decide to open when do we need to have a goal
06:36 we need to have hope and so in two seconds my god my father can we open on
06:41 the 26th of June yes okay deal done and on Monday we announced it so it was
06:46 really taken from the heart and from from Cola Pancia we say in Italy the
06:53 translation would be from the belly but it's a very Italian way to know it but
07:02 of course from there we started to think a lot about that and of course we our
07:07 first thought was what you say so guests will have a different attitude towards
07:13 the situation so there will be the ones that need to be super relaxed and they
07:18 just want to be on holiday and they really don't don't want to to feel so
07:23 much protected and the other ones that will need more to be more reassured of
07:28 all the security measures so we we wanted to find the balance and we wanted
07:33 to first of all try to understand which kind of level of confidence each guest
07:38 had in order to personalize the stay from the room from the kind of
07:44 interaction that each guest want with the staff so we just send a short some
07:50 short questions to each guest before arrival just understanding if they for
07:53 example if they want to be escorted in the room if they want the welcome
07:58 amenities or not if they want the housekeeping service and now often so we
08:05 just want to understand that really how each guest is stressed or not so that we
08:10 are ready to deal with every guest in the right way yeah I love that because
08:14 it's it really isn't one-size-fits-all right it never has been and not more
08:18 than ever yes so our aim was keeping all the safety measure as invisible as
08:24 possible but at the same time who needed to know them they're there to to find
08:30 them immediately and to be very and and at the same time another aim was to keep
08:36 everything invisible and to transform the things that are not invisible like
08:41 for example the masks yeah is something memorable so and something Italian so
08:48 something that that could remind in any case a special moment so for all the
08:55 guests that we have in house now yes their first step out of their country
09:01 out of their home after all this situation and so of course is a special
09:07 moment so for example we we are giving to each guest some silk mask to remember
09:13 the strong seal tradition that Como has and it's a kind of it's very soon to
09:20 make a mask which is a device that really is not so fancy and so beautiful
09:27 but also something different and more happy so with flowers and colors so yeah
09:32 and it's a nice souvenir to bring home you're like wow I have something from
09:36 you know if you have to wear it for who knows how long right it's nice to look
09:40 good doing it so and you know something I've noticed I'm American obviously and
09:45 I a few of the staff members here have asked are you American and oh we miss
09:49 the American so much yeah we miss them so much it's true and I love that and I
09:54 think you know I mean what have you noticed you know how are American
09:58 travelers how do they differ from because usually they're a large portion
10:02 of your guests yeah now of course they're not one of our main markets yeah
10:05 how do you what are the differences that you've noticed between Americans and I
10:09 mean I know it's generalization and you know but no of course I mean what what
10:14 we're missing the most of the of our beloved American guest is the and to
10:19 see us made the love for for everything that is Italian the curiosity they have
10:25 for our culture our food for everything for our history that everything is that
10:32 that is Italian in some way so this enthusiasm and passion that is really
10:40 much it has always been a strong engine for us yeah giving us power and energy
10:45 every every day to face of course some very tough yes so this is something that
10:55 of course we miss but we are finding a very beautiful different kind of guests
11:00 that mostly come from Europe and for all the closer countries and that have at
11:07 the moment we notice a very different behavior so that I don't know if it's
11:11 due most mostly by the nationality or also by the situation yes and because
11:18 the guests that we are having now of course mostly from from Europe are
11:23 living in the hotel much more so we were used to American guests that were very
11:29 savvy to experience as much as possible in the hotel of course yes making also a
11:35 lot of special experience like cooking classes both boat rides painting classes
11:42 and photography classes all kind of things even in the property but also a
11:47 lot outside so I wanted to try so many local restaurants and so of course
11:53 packing their their stays here on Lake Como but I'm sure it's the same
11:59 destination with a lot of experience to absorb as much as possible from
12:04 the local culture of course also given maybe the proximity our European guests
12:10 have a completely different attitude so they come here just to slow down have a
12:17 slower piece relax enjoy a holiday so most of them don't even leave the hotel
12:23 so they check in and check out like like me during the lockdown so and and really
12:31 just experiences that experiences a different rhythm and and just enjoying
12:37 the destination in the hotel I think this is something possible here because
12:41 you're in the hotel but you leave Lake Como every minute since you wake up
12:44 because yeah it's so much the main the main actor here the lake yeah that of
12:52 course you experience a lot of it even without going out of the property but
12:57 but of course they have a different let's say consumption yeah I love that
13:02 I was saying my husband I met we met a German couple and they had said they're
13:06 like we've been here ten days and today was the first time that we left the
13:09 hotel and we were like that's amazing like that's and I think that really is
13:13 it'll be interesting to see when Americans do come back if they we've
13:16 talked a lot about this hamster wheel and luxury right how people are just
13:19 constantly wanting to try the next thing and do the thing in the cooking and the
13:22 what you know and I wonder if it will be different maybe there is a slower pace
13:26 of travel yeah it can be in fact I cannot really explain this this
13:31 different behavior only for the nationality but also I think from yeah
13:36 what each of us have been living in this past exact last month so I think that it
13:41 teached us also to slow down and to appreciate maybe more a single thing
13:48 that's the moment I love that so speaking of the hotel what are some of
13:55 your favorite things like if someone came here and they had to eat one dish
13:58 let's start with that what would it be let's start from food what else from the
14:06 belly yeah so I mean one amissable dish is for sure our rice with gold which is
14:13 our signature dish at our main restaurant we started to work in 2011
14:19 with Gualtiero Marchese which is the Italian chef it's the first Italian
14:25 chef that got the three Michelin star and he's considered the father of
14:29 Italian cuisine so it's a kind of old school so this is again something from
14:34 the past something very very into our tradition very rooted in our Italian
14:41 tradition and he's most popular most famous and most iconic dish was a this
14:48 rice with gold which is served on a black plate I mean it is a it's it's
14:53 like a ritual it's not only just eating a result because at the end the recipe
14:58 is just a fantastic perfectly executed the suffering result amazing nothing
15:05 different yeah just one of the most delicious suffer result of the way you
15:09 can taste but the overall experience is how it looks like the preparation the
15:15 philosophy so it's served on this of course round black plate so it's
15:21 perfectly there is the perfect circle of black and then the the risotto that is
15:28 yellow very bright yellow and then the square of gold leaf it's not just and
15:34 how can I say satisfying your taste but it's also satisfying your eyes so the
15:41 art and then you have to eat with a gold spoon so and at the end of the of the
15:48 dinner you receive a certificate because now they are counted and this is the
15:53 only restaurant where where these signature dishes are served now he opened
15:58 many restaurant during his his life in even in the States in Russia Japan so
16:06 France so it was in Paris was very international and now of course with
16:13 the with the years passing by everything is focused and we remain the only one
16:18 amazing and and so it's also counted so you leave with also certificate with the
16:23 number the numbered result old I love that I love the name and and if you want
16:30 to be more simple you cannot miss the pizza so and what else do you love about
16:40 them obviously it's your hotel so it's very but things that guests love that
16:44 you know that you've noticed the compliments that we receive most often
16:49 and then especially makes me more happy it's about the people so what I love
16:55 really much about the hotel is is the staff that we have it's not even a staff
17:00 we call it our GHD family it's really a big family we are of course a family
17:05 owned hotel so there is a real family that is present every day and and we
17:11 love each of the people that are working here and especially in such a difficult
17:15 year and they're really giving the best of themselves because I think that
17:21 they are also very grateful that finally the season started and the hotel is open
17:30 the people are back they say guests back and they say the hotel being busier and
17:36 a little bit busier and a little bit busier and it's these are just goals
17:41 common goals so these are this is making every everybody happy and of course I
17:47 was speaking with a former colleague a few days ago a couple of days ago and he
17:52 said to me as a compliment so the staff really cares and everybody is like
17:58 taking care of their own hotel and so this is what makes me happy the most
18:04 because of course people is the most important treasure that you can have
18:11 no it's not true I mean I'm just lucky I'm just lucky because I'm surrounded by
18:17 very very very special people and and this makes a lot of a lot of difference
18:24 and a lot of the experience that yeah I mean of course you have you must have a
18:28 beautiful property and I think that also the enchantment the fascination of this
18:33 place helps because the people that love here that work here love the hotel
18:39 really they love it they fall in love maybe from the first day they come here
18:44 and they say oh my god it's my dream place so these have I mean having a
18:48 beautiful property of course it's an important part but without the people
18:52 without the soul yeah it would not be anything I think all I mean all of those
18:56 of us who travel in this space and work in this space I mean there are a lot of
19:00 soulless luxury hotels right and you just kind of recognize it right away and
19:04 you're like oh it's not worth the money it's not worth coming it's not worth my
19:07 time and I think it's just so different here and of course you can't miss I mean
19:12 some of the things I've loved like the pools the infinity pool the spa that
19:15 overlooks the lake and you have this incredible Olympic sized pool in the
19:19 middle of the lake and then you have the back pool which my daughter is loved and
19:22 then I loved I mean this morning we walked up because your childhood bear
19:26 was named Bobo right so Bobo all the kids that come in get Bobo of course and
19:30 then there's a real big Bobo who lives outside at the top of the hill and it's
19:35 the most incredible view of the lake so you kind of walk up there should have
19:38 worn better shoes and there's a Bobo up there right yeah it's not my original
19:44 one I keep it I keep him at home but yeah yeah it's just like the secret
19:51 little thing that our little guest discover once they are they check in
19:57 and after they they start to explore the property so they go searching for
20:03 Bobo I love that well so if you're not unlike come home and obviously you've
20:07 spent a lot of time here this year where else do you love going in Italy I mean I
20:15 love all Italy I can it's very very hard picking up a place I mean from my
20:21 because the Capri Sicily Tuscany there is not a place where I shouldn't love to
20:29 be in Italy but now that I have a family I have two kids I have a special place
20:37 of my heart yeah that is Puglia so Puglia is a place where I go every every
20:42 year I was going even before without kids but now I spend longer time with
20:47 them and it's a it's a region that offers so much there is a beautiful
20:51 seaside fantastic people food that is out of this world villages many many
20:59 many villages all different one more beautiful than other to explore so
21:04 culture there is everything so it's for sure something that it's a little bit
21:09 lesser on the beaten paths even if I think it was a very very much emerging
21:15 region in Italy in the in the last few years yes but it's a place that I always
21:20 suggest and it's the place of the heart so I think I mean it's you can never
21:25 take too many trips to Italy you can never get enough of Italy it's really
21:28 it's the destination that people are just desperate to go to I think and
21:32 thank you Valentina thank you so much your hotel is beautiful