The Hotel was designed and furnished throughout by Gio Ponti in 1962, and still preserves the designer's  original work intact.

The thirty different floor tile designs, arranged in a variety of ways to make up different decors for each of the hundred rooms, are a perfect accompaniment for the ceramic pebbles and the Melotti majolica plates, creating an overall, harmonius blend of carefully chosen shades of white and blue.

The rooms still preserve their original Gio Ponti design and layout and are located on either side of the hotel to overlook the sea or the gardens from their terrace or balcony.
They also have a telephone, a modem-fax connection, air conditioning, a mini-bar and satellite TV.

The majestic gardens are a superb example of how botanical gardens were laid out under the reign of the Bourbon royal family, with evocative scenes of classical architecture amid the rare specimens of beautiful trees.

 

The Temple of Venus or indeed the remains of the castle bear witness to the desire first of the Bourbons and later of the Cortchacovs to keep the memories of this delightful place alive.

Enjoy a relaxing drink as you take in the changing hues of the gardens: the long, uninterrupted glazing seems to provide exactly the right filter for blending the evocative emotion of the natural world with the pleasing notes from the piano bar.

The large swimming pool is filled with sea water and was envisaged by Ponti more as a "pond for wood nymphs" than as a mere attraction for swimmers. He described it as a pool "... out of which rise islands for the classical attitudes of Récamier or Paolina, of female beauty; and from the water emerges a masonry ladder to climb and then dive into the depths..."

There is an alternative to the swimming pool: the private beach. The sandy shore or the rocks, the concrete solarium or a relaxing interlude at the seaside restaurant, with its seafood specialities, its continental cuisine or a truly excellent pizza. All you have to do is choose!

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