My Life In Travel: Marie-Louise Sciò, Il Pellicano Hotels
I never thought I’d work in hospitality. I studied architecture, which turned out to be handy in this role. I knew I wanted to do something creative but I never thought about it too much – I struggled to decide what to study because I had so many different passions, from film to fashion to interior design. I decided that studying architecture would give me a bit of all that. After university, I went back to Rome and started working as an interior designer. One day my father asked me if I’d redo one of the bathrooms at Il Pellicano. I said yes – and things went from there.
At the time, I wasn't going to the hotel much. I told my father, “I think you need to re-launch it to a younger crowd.” Luckily, he agreed. I started that process through interior design, as that's what I knew how to do. I could draw floorplans and I had good taste, so I redid the whole place over a winter season.
The clients who'd been coming to Il Pellicano forever didn’t like change. So, I tried to tiptoe in and not change it too much. I remembered what it looked like when I was a kid. And then I called Slim Aarons and asked if he could send me some of his photographs of the hotel, because I wanted the references. The best part of the project was when the longtime clients came in for the first time and said, “You know, something's changed but we don't know what.” That gave me a boost. Once the interiors were brought up to date, I focused on the graphic design of the hotel, as that no longer matched the interior design, and the music was kind of dissonant. I needed to bring it all together to make it harmonious. And that's how I become a hotelier. Growing up in a hotel, I was so familiar with the world of hospitality but I didn't study it. In hindsight, it was great to not have had that training because I approached things differently and I was freer to do things in a certain way.
Issimo
Il Pellicano
The thing that unites all three of our hotels is their unexpected locations. There is a joyfulness to them all, but they have their own characters. I think of Il Pellicano in Tuscany as the older sister. I see La Posta Vecchia outside Rome as more masculine – it's a bit more promiscuous, a bit naughtier, and it has real grandeur and opulence because it has the biggest private collection of Renaissance furniture. Mezzatorre in Ischia is more whimsical – she's the younger sister of Il Pelicano. The locations are a bit off the beaten track. Now, Ischia is really popular, and Porto Ercole is popular purely because of Il Pellicano, but whenever we search for sites initially, we always look for the less obvious.
I’m so proud of Issimo, our online shop. It’s a love letter to Italy. I always curated the shops at the hotels – we’ve long had a big shop at Il Pellicano, and I always did the buying as it came naturally to me. It was a natural step to bring it to life online – and because our hotels are seasonal, it made sense to have a digital footprint year-round that went beyond the booking platform. The shop is an extension of our hotels – it's all about travel, discovery, food, design and fashion, and about highlighting Italian excellence in different fields. It sells cashmere, pyjamas, cups and saucers, ashtrays, beach towels and branded bedding to get that hotel feel at home.
Il Pellicano
@MezzatorreHotel
Like all Italians, I love to travel around Italy. I love Orvieto in Umbria, and Civita di Bagnoregio and Lubriano, which are two lovely towns. I am obsessed with Lake Bolsena. The landscape is really beautiful – it's wild and it feels kind of undiscovered. I like that it's not primed and pristine and perfect. And I love the Tuscan Archipelago. There's a lot to see.
When I’m booking a holiday, I almost always go by word of mouth. Personal recommendations are the most powerful thing. When I travel, I really don’t mind whether I stay in a five-star hotel or a one-star hotel. What I look for is a soulful place.
My son and my boyfriend are my favourite people to travel with. But I also love travelling with the writer Yolanda Edwards and a friend of mine, Francesca, who's a set designer. We both love exploring, we have the same sensitivity, and we like to go off the beaten track and find things that are not completely obvious.
Outside of Italy, I love Finland. I’ve been to Lapland twice and loved it – the Northern Lights were really special. We also made sure to visit Helsinki. The highlight was an architectural tour of the buildings of modernist designer Alvar Aalto, which was amazing. I also love South America – Buenos Aires is a great city, Patagonia is fantastic, and I love Colombia.
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Il Pellicano
Il Pellicano
I have a list of packing essentials. This includes my headphones, which I can’t travel without, a big scarf – very versatile – and a diary, and a good pen and pencil. I love to draw and write, so I need these to hand while I’m away. I also always carry a face oil – I really like using Seed To Skin, which is an Italian brand, and another is Lavika. I love its body oil, which is made from pistachios from Sicily.
The best souvenir I've brought back from a holiday? I always like to buy local t-shirts for fun.
I’ve got a couple of places on my travel bucket list. Owning hotels in Italy is a seasonal job, so I often travel in the winter months. Korea is on the list – I’m actually going soon with a girlfriend of mine – and I'd like to go to Chile. I love seeing the stars and Chile is one of the best places to see the night sky.
I love London. I always like to make a reservation for the Japanese restaurant Sumi in Notting Hill. I always go to Love Supreme Projects to do some chanting and a yoga class. I like to see my friend Alex Eagle, who has a fabulous shop in Soho – I always pop in to see the latest things she’s curated. I also love the Barbican, the Photographers’ Gallery, the Tate Modern and the Royal Academy.
We currently have a pop-up running at Claridge’s Restaurant. It’s always been one of my absolute favourite hotels – it’s legendary for a reason. I used to stay there as a kid with my dad, so it holds lots of happy memories. Il Pellicano is closed over the winter, so it was the perfect time to partner up and bring a slice of the hotel to London. Our head barman has come over and is taking over the drinks. The restaurant’s signature dishes are on the menu (think Maremma-style ravioli with butter and sage; turbot with stuffed escarole and anchovy sauce; and a generous helping of tiramisu) and we have an Issimo pop-up in the Claridge’s shop. We’ve essentially moved in.
Claridge’s, Brook Street, Mayfair, W1K 4HR; until 22nd February
Visit PELLICANOHOTELS.COM & CLARIDGES.CO.UK
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