Aperture

🏃 Club del Sole confirmed as the Hospitality Partner for the Rimini Marathon 2025, set from April 11-13 at the Rimini Family Resort, featuring the Marathon Village. General Manager Angelo E. Cartelli highlighted the event's alignment with their active & healthy vision and its significant tourism impact. The resort offers nature-immersed lodges, a water park, sports facilities, Dog Friendly services, and a 35,000 sqm private beach with Dolcevita Beach Club. The Central Restaurant's remodel will debut during the marathon, culminating with an award ceremony at Piazzale Adamello, where winners get a stay at one of Club del Sole's 27 villages across eight Italian regions.

🏖️ KAIA, a new luxury tented resort brand, will debut in Koh Phangan, Thailand, by late 2025. Founded by Bound and Beyond and Cloud Collective, the brand aims for global expansion of outdoor hospitality. KAIA Koh Phangan will feature 31 ocean-view tented suites of 77 square meters each and four 248 square meter tented villas with private pools. The resort will center around a clubhouse with dynamic restaurants, lounge areas, an infinity pool, and a beach club. Activities will promote guest engagement with nature and local community, including beach banquets, sunset parties, and foraging.

🏡 Opening day for the world's first Orient Express hotel, Orient Express La Minerva, takes place in Rome with key figures in attendance, including Mayor Roberto Gualtieri and CEOs Paolo Barletta and Gilda Perez-Alvarado. The hotel, near the Pantheon at Piazza della Minerva 69, boasts 93 rooms ranging from 25 to 235 sqm, including 36 suites. A 17th-century palace, restored by architect Hugo Toro, the hotel merges Roman heritage with a new aesthetic. Orient Express La Minerva will also feature three exceptional gastronomic outlets, including La Minerva Bar in the lobby, Gigi Rigolatto on the terrace opening in May 2025, and Mimi Kakushi, a fusion restaurant coming by the end of the year, with a concept by Rikas Hospitality Group. Additionally, the hotel offers five event spaces with a capacity ranging from 28 to 165 sqm and a marble statue of Minerva sculpted in 1854 by Rinaldo Rinaldi. CEO Gilda Perez-Alvarado and CEO Paolo Barletta express their commitment to blending the iconic brand with the entrepreneurial vision of Arsenale Group, while emphasizing Rome's ideal blend of history, culture, and Italian hospitality.

🌊 Originaltour is offering summer trips to Bali with the option of Gili islands and Singapore, or Malaysia, with fixed departure dates from August 13 to 29. From Rome, travelers can stay in Sanur, known for its 4+ km beach and temple excursions. A second option includes a week in Sanur or Nusa Dua and a second in Gili Trawangan's Villa Ombok, offering "sasak" style lodgings. There are additional excursions, such as cooking classes in Ubud. Alternatively, a trip combining Singapore and Malaysia starts on August 10, departing from Milan and Rome via Emirates, returning on August 25. This journey includes Taman Negara rainforest, Kuala Lumpur, Malacca, and ends with beach time in Redang at Laguna Redang Resort.

🏡 Nuvole Garden Hotel in Brunate, overlooking Lake Como, revives the historical Grand Hotel Milano after 40 years of silence with an 8-year renovation. Accessible by funicular from Como in seven minutes, the hotel offers 80 rooms and suites across five floors, including 29 suites and 37 lake-view rooms. It was originally designed in Art Nouveau style by Italian architect Achille Manfredini in 1910. The hotel showcases noble materials, fine fabrics, rare marbles, and crafted finishes. The Sole Gourmet Restaurant led by Executive Chef Stefano Mattara, honors Italian cooking legend Gualtiero Marchesi. The hotel's spa, THE SPA, features Finnish saunas, infrared sauna, Turkish baths, and sensory paths for wellness. Nuvole Garden Hotel, owned by Emilio Polillo of Italiana Hotels & Resorts, promises exceptional experiences for guests, events, and is the group's first luxury market venture.

🏡 ÖÖD Hotel, the first in Italy and Southern Europe, featuring mirror houses, is coming to Casola in Lunigiana, owned by Davide Longobardi of Spino Fiorito. The project, initiated in 2018 and resumed post-pandemic with a 2021 visit to Estonia, will open within weeks. Architect Paolo Scoglio designed a treehouse-like, reversible site without concrete use, including an outdoor deck, a 2.5-meter high ÖÖD house, and a 4.5-meter high mirror sauna, establishing a flagship point for ÖÖD in Italy.

🏗️ Winter 2025/2026 sees Star Clippers debut Grenada as a starting port for Caribbean cruises, including Eastern Costa Rica, Jamaica, and the Cayman Islands. Birgit Gfölner expects high demand, as five departures from Nice between September and October 2025 are quickly selling out. Early booking discount offers up to 20% off until April 30, 2025. Cruises from Grenada feature 10 and 11-night itineraries. Consecutive cruise bookings attract an additional 5% discount. Special promotions for 2025 Christmas cruises include a €600 onboard credit, no single supplement, and a third guest travels free sharing a double cabin.

🏥 Four Points by Sheraton, part of Marriott Bonvoy's portfolio, launches Four Points by Sheraton Dakar Diamniadio in Senegal, marking the brand's debut in the country. Located 20 minutes from Blaise Diagne International Airport in the new Sports City complex, the hotel is near Abdou Diouf International Conference Center, Ousmane Tanor Dieng ministerial sphere, UN headquarters for West Africa, and the future Olympic stadium for the 2026 Youth Summer Olympics. Sandra Schulze-Potgieter, VP at Marriott International, highlights the hotel's significance in business, sports, and tourism growth. The hotel features 173 rooms with modern amenities and free Wi-Fi, an outdoor pool, a fitness center, and 139 square meters of flexible meeting space.

🏎 Paolo Barletta, CEO of Arsenale, launched "La Dolce Vita Orient Express," a luxury train by Arsenale and Accor, debuting in Italy with the Orient Express brand, including the La Minerva hotel opening in Rome. Celebrated at Rome's Ostiense Station with partners Arsenale, Accor, Fondazione FS Italiane, and FS Treni Turistici Italiani, it signifies a Made in Italy "rail cruise" concept merging rail, cruise, and hotel sectors. Gilda Perez-Alvarado, CEO of Orient Express, highlights the train's 60s-70s era-inspired design. Italy surpassed France with over 458 million tourist stays in 2024. Luigi Cantamessa notes the reopening of 1,000+ km of railway as "green branches." The train's inaugural journey from Rome to Montalcino places the capital at the forefront of luxury tourism.

🏡 Preferred Hotels & Resorts expanded its Italian portfolio with 13 new properties in 14 months, including the Armani Hotel Milano joining the Legend Collection. The brand now boasts over 50 hotels in Italy. Among the new entries are the Grand Hotel Imperiale, Grand Hotel Courmayeur Mont Blanc, Ara Maris, Boutique Hotel Stresa, Cala del Porto Punta Ala, Preidlhof Luxury Dolce Vita Resort, and others such as Hotel Excelsior Spa & Lido, Castello Dal Pozzo Resort, Hotel Number Nine, The First Musica, Hotel Bellerive Lifestyle, and Savona 18 Suites.