We have a weakness for a certain sort of modern Italian glamour. It’s just our thing. Some people long for the Swiss Alps, or the beaches of Thailand. For us, it is the 1970s spirit that lives on in a certain joyous way in Italy.
Located on the Tuscan coast of Italy, this classic hotel has been visited by glitterati throughout the years, documented by the likes of Juergen Teller and Slim Aarons. It is a dreamy jewel of an Italian hotel, the sort of place one wants to linger for days and weeks. Revived and refurbished through the years, it is impossibly hard to get a reservation, despite the wallet-crushing room prices.
The Michelin star restaurant headed by Michelino Gioia puts out an elegant yet Mediterranean casual feast that is showcased in the Teller book. The most amazing squid ravioli on the planet.
“In 1965 two lovers, a charismatic American socialite and dashing British aviator, created a romantic hideaway in a secret cove. Glamorous friends came to bathe in the delicious azure sea and party by moonlight, soon the gorgeous Tuscan home was transformed into Il Pellicano.
There was nowhere else like it, the pristine cove sheltered by rugged cliffs, the romance and spontaneity, Hollywood and high society came to relax in privacy. 1979, Roberto Sciò fell in love with the hotel’s beauty and bought it.”
His daughter, the brilliant creative director Marie-Louise Sciò stays on top of keeping the hotel in the magic zone of being completely up to date while staying true to its heritage. This is the sort of place we dream of wearing the vacation clothes featured in glossy magazines, sipping Campari and soda by the pool after an evening ocean swim, while waiting for our sunset dinner reservations. It is the sort of nostalgia for a kind of generous Italian stylishness that brings back memories of Gianni Agnelli and all that was glam in the ’70s.
Dreaming we are, if we had a bucket list this would be on it. Maybe next year we can make our pilgrimage to our number one missed hotel destination, in our favorite country.
