Hotel de Paris Sanremo
Tradition and culture intertwine in the history of Hotel de Paris Sanremo
It was 1897 when the Hotel Parigi, or rather the Hotel de Paris, rose in Sanremo, as seen in the ancient sign visible in vintage photos yellowed by time: it was immediately one of the most prestigious hotels in Sanremo, a magnificent testimony to the Belle Époque of European tourism on the Riviera at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries. Built in 1897, Hotel de Paris was the first work of engineer Pietro Agosti, a charismatic figure and absolute protagonist of Sanremo's building renewal and history in those years. The structure of Hotel de Paris was sober and linear, already hinting at the style, taste, and great skills of the architect Agosti. The hotel was born as a grand four-star establishment with a restaurant, a building in pure Art Nouveau style of noble majesty which, due to its position and beauty, became a regular haunt for the wealthy and select Italian and—above all—foreign clientele that had been staying in Sanremo for several years. Hotel de Paris faced the beach and the sea and was located right on the Corso dell’Imperatrice, a splendid public park rich in palm trees and flowers.
In 1904, Pietro Agosti designed the expansion of the right side of the ground floor to enlarge the restaurant, which was in high demand—a sign of the structure's growing success. Taking a brief step forward in the history of the hotel's modifications, we arrive at 1936 when the widening of Corso dell’Imperatrice made a modification to the building necessary. The outermost part of the restaurant was resized and the original access staircase reduced, resulting in the creation of the transverse staircase that still exists today.
The long history of the hotel, which intertwines with that of the city, makes one reflect on how many mysteries its walls can tell. Few places are as charged with emotion as a grand and fascinating historic hotel, which sees thousands of lives intertwine every year.
Mr. Fernando Marro, owner of Hotel de Paris in the 1950s, preserved a curious historical artifact. While doing renovation work, he discovered newspaper sheets walled up inside a hole in a wall. The oldest newspaper is the same age as Hotel de Paris; it is an original copy dated November 7, 1897. According to an ancient custom, a mason wanted to leave a message, marking that present moment with a symbolic act: today we are here, this is my newspaper, this is Hotel de Paris being born today, made also with our hands.
The second copy is even more striking because it is like turning the crank of a time machine. We arrive at June 24, 1918. The newspaper is the *Corriere della Sera*. "Only" 21 years have passed since the previous newspaper, but in the meantime, there has been a World War, with destruction and millions of deaths across Europe. The front page of the *Corriere* is unequivocal in its headline: “From the Supreme Command: From Montello to the sea, the enemy, defeated and pursued by our brave troops, crosses back over the Piave in disorder. Diaz”
Right in that niche containing the first newspaper, a hand, perhaps the same one from 21 years earlier, also hid the copy of *Corriere della Sera*, likely during further works, sealing these history-dense pages behind a wall.
In Sanremo, before the World Wars, figures and the elite of countries that would later fight to the bitter end met in the casino halls and on strolls through the streets, forging friendships and participating together in parties and banquets. Even then, communication was fundamental: in a city by now rich in high-level hotels, promotion and advertising were essential. Brochures were elaborate and always in multiple languages even when, during the fascist period, the hotel's name was "Italianized" first to Hotel Parigi and then to Hotel del Corso.
In 1913, Hotel de Paris appeared with its own advertisement in a very important and followed guide, the *Riviera Guide. Annuaire Complet publié sous la direction de Giacomo Gandolfi, Sanremo, Corso Umberto I*.
Let's restart the time machine and jump forward about 15 years, during which Sanremo had consolidated its fame as the pearl of elite tourism, in Italy and Europe. Speaking of magazines again, it is with some emotion that one handles original copies of “San Remo au Pays du Soleil” (Sanremo in the Land of the Sun), with the subtitle “Liste Générale Officielle des Etrangers” (General Official List of Foreigners). We are between the two wars (in 1930), apparently still far from the new global upheaval that this time would also touch Sanremo, bombed several times during the Second World War with civilian casualties and serious damage to its building and architectural heritage. The list of guests, both foreign and Italian, is extraordinary and confirms the international climate of the previous years.
Hotel de Paris hosted many famous people who left their indelible mark in the "Guestbook". The list of illustrious guests is truly remarkable. We recall H.R.H. Ferdinand of Savoy and the Duchess of Genoa, the then Hon. Sandro Pertini, Prince Pietro Bruno di Belmonte, Prince Odescalchi, and Commendatore Giorgio Pirelli. The position and the panorama that Hotel de Paris offered (and offers!) made it an ideal context for writers, such as Bonaventura Tecchi, who said he wrote much from his room overlooking the sea.
Certainly, retracing a hundred years of history of a building like Hotel de Paris in a few lines, proposing a gallery of images and thoughts, fills one with emotion. The stupendous aura that Pietro Agosti infused into the building remains indelible: that of a splendid holiday destination to experience a vacation in one of the most beautiful places in the world.