S A N M O N T A N O R E S O R T & S P A
A R C A N G E L O D e S I A N O
Photographed by} John Russo
Interview by} Ken Waller
KW: Can you give us a brief background on yourself and you found your way to owning or working at this property?
AD: Yes, so my relationship with the hospitality business started at birth. I come from a family of third generation of hoteliers, first with my grandpa and then my father. Both have passed on their passion. So basically I can say I was born in a hotel. I started doing smaller jobs like helping the gardeners or the maintenance, and that’s how it all began. It’s a funny story, when I was getting bad grades at school, during Summer, I think I was 13 or 14, my parents taught me to work. The said if you have bad grades you go work with the maintenance, if you have good grades, eventually you can start working in the front. So I started in every department of a hotel, in a 4 star property that we have here in Ischia. Slowly the passion came when I graduated high school and I started University in Naples but I was still mentally a little bit too young. So I spent a couple of years just enjoying my life, not studying too much and in University also because in Naples there were no hospitality business colleges. After a couple of years I decided it was not my way, I was studying Economics. And then I wanted to apply for a Swiss college in Switzerland, but I needed to improve my English, my English was still a little bit broken so I couldn’t apply to Universities. So I spent a couple of years in the UK working and learning, I was in the UK for six months and then came back in the Summer season to Ischia. At 22, I applied for the University in Switzerland and from then on it changed my life. The college was kind of a melting pot, all different kinds of people from Asia, Latin America, Europe and the USA. It was a magnificent experience and it helped me get great connections. I also worked for a few years in Switzerland before coming back to the island, I worked in Geneva in a Michelin star restaurant, as a server. Then I worked in a five star property in Gstaad, then another five star property in Lugano, Switzerland. After graduation I decided to come back home and it was the best choice possible. Growing up in such a small place, a small village, an island can be sometimes limiting. I recommend everybody go out and have their experiences. Eventually I came back with a different life. So that’s where it all started. And then I started my way, I worked here at San Montano starting in 2016, I was working in the front office and then slowly being the general manager assistant and then in 2020 I became the GM of the property. So it wasn’t the perfect year because what happened then was pretty challenging, but looking back, it was an amazing experience, we brought incredible results in terms of brand recognition, revenues and all the aspects were satisfying for my work, so my family is now happy that I am running the place and so that’s the long story short. (laughter)
KW: That’s a great story, good for you. So what’s the brand philosophy at San Montano?
AD: We want our guests to embrace the destination. The essence of Ischia, a five star property with a laid back atmosphere. The property offers relaxation and privacy, guests feel at one with nature. So this aspect, and especially after the pandemic, people are very much focused on nature and the aspect of peace of mind. In the last few years many people are looking for a vacation where they can relax and enjoy the open space and enjoy life. I always say on such a small island there’s so much to do. First of all, in terms of proximity you move so easily from the seaside to the mountain. The mountain top of Mayo, which is 900 meters high and being up there it feels completely different, a completely different scenario, it feels like not being on an island anymore. And also in terms of the culture of the people, it’s different, the restaurant, the food offerings are different, you feel being on an island, you get seafood and the main dishes are seafood, but if you think that the signature dish of the island is rabbit, that tells you already about the big diversity that is in the culture and in the food. I will say you have a very authentic destination, authenticity and of course the quality of the food and diversity of the different experiences mixed up with the most important feature, which is the thermal water. Ischia is an island and we have 60 different natural thermal sources of hot springs, for example at San Montano we have our own thermal water, source of hot springs that comes from a hundred meters below the sea level. So we go down the hill, and from down the hill we have a pump, we go a hundred meters below the sea level and in the past we did and we found this almost boiling hot water that we pump up and use to fill up the pools and the spas for spa treatments, for the thermal mud, we let this mud macerate in the thermal water for more than six months and then they get this incredible particular benefit, which is cosmetic and medical and we do offer these treatments at our spas, it’s very good for the skin and for specific problems, for back pain, for bone pain. So besides the well being, also the medication, which comes with the whole package of the well being. But not only medication but also cosmetics, so there is also a way that we are changing the way of looking at the thermal treatment, that in the past where it was only medication, which is already an incredible feature, but also cosmetic and for prevention, it’s very good for the skin and softening the skin. For example in the thermal water, all of our pools we have on property in Ischia there’s a concept of the thermal gardens, there are these gardens that are open to the public, where there are different pools, hot pools, hydromassage, sonars, and we have recreated the same concept on the property for the exclusive use of our guests. So you can find eleven other pools outdoors and natural spas with natural steam, always outdoors and then of course our spa where we have sonar and Turkish and these other facilities for, again, for the well being.
KW: Very in depth and amazing answer. You have answered so many of the questions already with what you are saying. (laughs) How about this one, tell us about some of the unique curated experiences the property offers.
AD: Well again, it could be on property, as for example for specific spa treatments that we do, one unique treatment that we do at San Montano is our Lemontano Ritual, which is the joke of the word lemon and San Montano, so it becomes Lemontano, which is not only the lemonade that is our signature drink, our lemonade, that is also a special recipe that our bartender makes with our lemons from our garden. So we do it from the 500 more lemon trees that we have on property and we have a spot under the lemon grove where we do this personalized couples massage under the lemon grove. So it really feels like being at once with nature, especially in this period where all the trees are flowering, there is this strong smell of lemon flowers so it’s a really unique experience that you hopefully can find only here. And then off property as I was saying, we are really much focused on the experience of the island, so not many people know that for example there is a strong heritage of winemakers, so there is this activity that we propose to all of our guests, of a hike, a day of a hike, going up on the mountain, starting with the wineries, wine tasting and then going down through the hike to the naturals, which is this beautiful sandy beach, where there is the natural thermal activity underneath and there is also this unique experience of the volcanic cooking, which, it happens probably at another couple of places around the world, like in Japan I have heard they do this kind of similar activity, so it’s basically digging one meter below the sand, you already have the hot thermal steam, it’s getting closer to the water, to the sea and you dig and you have this boiling water that comes from underneath the sand. So there are the locals that cook there, there are some restaurants that offer this experience of the volcanic cooking. So they wrap the fish and they put it underneath the sand and it gets the cooking with the thermal energy, which is a beautiful and unique experience as well. So yeah, the experienced are all related to discover the island and this uniqueness.
KW: Going there to Capri, there is a lot of pressure to have the most money, the biggest boat, etc, but coming to Ischia to enjoy the local culture, to relax and really take in all this raw natural beauty is really something special.
AD: Absolutely, I agree 100 percent with you. That is something that we have also seen, the trend with travel agents, let’s say they can measure very well the trend of the market. And that is exactly what they are saying, that now it’s insane what you find, the crazy rates also in Capri. We also have a property in Amalfi, in San Andreas, this beautiful property that we opened in 2021 and the rates are, here is one and there is five. If I have an entry level here that is around six, seven hundred, there is two thousand example for the night. And that already tells you the big difference in the market because there’s such a big demand and it’s always super crowded. And yeah I feel like people are going there because everybody goes there. They need that photo for social media. ( he laughs)
KW: Having an infinity pool outside of your bi-level suite is pretty much unbelievable.
AD: True, true. True and what I can add on top of that is that many other properties have their pool but this one is a thermal water pool. So you have these specific enzymes that lower the stress level so it’s a different experience, not just a pool, which is always fun to have, always good to have a pool, but on top of that, there is also this thermal, hot spring and reaches the possibility of having a private pool and you can do the thermal massage and it relaxes the back.
KW: When we walked around the town, it still felt like a small town, it felt like a village. It wasn’t intimidating, there were some beautiful local stores, but it wasn’t the chain stores of Capri.
AD: In terms of shopping, you can find something unique here, because there are these little boutiques that the owners run the place and they have different brands, but they order what they like, so you can find unique pieces that maybe you cannot find in the stores in New York. Yes, this is the little town of Locamino and down in the village here is a beautiful village and there are beautiful boutiques, there are a couple that are very nice. And also in the town of Santangelo, it’s very beautiful and very nice little boutiques and yeah, you can find really unique pieces. And I wouldn’t like to have those big brands, even though you will have a different kind of market, adding something more to the market, to the demand, but then you risk to destroy the authenticity of the place. And then also in terms of safety you mentioned that you felt very safe and I always tell everybody that also being on an island, it makes it even safer, this is the perfect place for growing with my family and my kid and because it’s really, really safe, there’s zero crime rate. Sometimes people think that outside Italy and Naples, but also now the major area of Naples, it’s changed so much, it raised so much the level of hospitality and services and the crime, it’s going down. There are some places for example, the Spanish Quarters, where fifteen years ago you couldn’t get in and now there are many tourists and it’s full of people. And nothing can happen to you, because even though there is some crime organization, because you don’t see people but it’s present, but they want that the economics of the place goes well. So they are the first people that don’t want you to get robbed there, because you have to come back and you have to spend at the bars. So let’s say it balanced things, so it’s strange but it’s even safer now than Milan and Milan and is getting really bad in terms of its reputation. And then being on an island, again, it’s much more safer. I always say, I sleep with my door keys out of the door, I have my scooter, my car is not locked, everyone can go and take it, but no one does, because first of all, we are 60,000 citizens among the island, so we are a pretty big island. There’s not everybody who is really rich but there’s also not poverty, so everybody has a good living standard, so everybody really lives well so you don’t have crime at any level.
KW: We had an amazing stay at your property and will be back!
AD: You are always welcome!
To learn more about the San Montano Resort follow them at @sanmontanoresort