Talks for a Change, the regular appointment with luxury hospitality and the evolving changes in its vast landscape produced by Medelhan and curated by Design Courier, has returned with a new edition Made in Venice. An art capital, a city where Peggy Guggenheim once remarked that if there is anything more beautiful than Venice, it is its reflection on the canal at sunset, a place where contemporary architecture and design continually engage with an ancient history. Therefore, what better starting point than Venice for a journey through the peaks of prestigious hospitality? Dario Leone, Head of Hospitality & Leisure at Savills ­– the division specializing in valuation and advisory services, operator selection, and capital markets for hospitality and leisure facilities with a highly personalized service – provided insights into this complex scenario, extending the discussion from Venice to the entire Italian panorama.

Looking at an earlier stage, it should be noted that the Italian hotel landscape four years ago consisted of a significant number of tired, outdated, family-run establishments. The pandemic then added to this, with the resulting sharp decline in tourism leading to the closure of several establishments, which were then taken over by major luxury groups. The actual year of recovery and the beginning of this evolution was 2022: the enthusiasm and desire to travel returned, although not yet reaching 2019 levels. But why was it said that hotels were performing well and in good health even before having the 2023 data in hand? The reason lies in the fact that the hotel sector was the real estate market segment that best responded to the inflation problem. It did so by increasing rates, thus maintaining revenues always higher than costs. Today, the former have increased to the point that interest in the hotel asset has reached high levels as a real estate interest, coinciding with the general interest in Italy at the moment.

Focusing now on the Big Four, it is evident how Milan started, at the time of recovery in 2022, from a privileged situation, already with a strong presence of hotel chains. Rome, on the other hand, had a more complex and backward situation, both due to its city size and the almost total absence of major groups. Yet today, Rome has one of the most interesting pipelines. The situation in Venice is different again, as it is a small city where the realization of large projects is complex precisely because of space issues. This is one reason why most of Venice’s major establishments result from the combination of neighbouring properties. Only in this way does a performing entity integrated with local architecture emerge.

What has changed in recent years? The rates. Occupancy has indeed reached pre-pandemic levels, while REVPAR, or revenue per available room, is significantly higher than in 2019, driven precisely by the rates. Here, an interesting sociological phenomenon can be observed, where an inflationary push corresponded to equal enthusiasm. This can partly be explained by the definition of 'revenge spending', a sort of pressure-cooker effect where, after the period of closures, people needed to go out and travel. On the other hand, it should be noted that this phenomenon specifically concerns the luxury segment, where purchasing power is higher. Finally, during the pandemic closure, people worked at intense, perhaps higher, paces, with the awareness that this moment would eventually end. And so it did.