Grand Hotel Parker’s
Enjoy the place where Virginia Woolf and Oscar Wilde,Lord Currie, the British Ambassador to Italy, the Princess of Sweden and Norway and the Grand Duchess Anastasia de Meklembourg Kannes, HRH King Victor Emanuel II and Prince Amedeo of Savoy relaxed.
In 2010, Grand Hotel Parker’s had one hundred and fourty candles on its birthday cake, each representing a milestone in the long history of this Hotel that has witnessed the dawn of a new society, projected towards the new century of progress, which is now drawing to a close.
Parker’s is firmly supported by its history and experience, with new services to be offered to guests and an commitment to challenge solutions in tune with modern times.
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Mr. George Parker Bidder, marine biologist, was a versatile researcher and great estimator and connoisseur of nature and of the classic art who lived in the most beautiful suite of the Hotel Tramontano-Beau Rivage. He was the owner of the Hotel from 1889 to1908 and in this period the Grand Hotel Parker's became his home.
Grand Hotel Parker’s history began in 1865 when the hotel was farmstead owned by Prince Salvatore Grifeo. In the 1870s, Prince Salvatore Grifeo had rented the farmstead to Guglielmo Tramontano, for conversion into a hotel and, around 1870, Tramontano had already started business, immediately imbuing the Hotel with a precise identity, appreciated in particular by guests for its enchanting position and privacy, and above all as a “First Class” establishment able to provide all the latest comforts and amenities.
Naples continued to be one of the main stopping places on the international tourist trail. The city was visited by rich and famous travellers from all over the world who chose to stay in the most attractive places, such as Posillipo, the Riviera of Chiaia, Santa Lucia and Corso Vittorio Emanuele.
The guidebooks of the period contained the names of many hotels that have now disappeared; under Hotels, the Bronner and Cipriani Commercial guidebook indicates, in 1880, the Tramontano at No.135 of Corso Vittorio Emanuele.
In the 1880’s the Tramontano decided to add “Beaurivage” to the name of the proprietor and referring obviously to the beach of Chiaia that could be admired from the front of the Hotel.
In 1872, work started on the new layout of Villa Reale and the Zoological Station, desired by the German scientist Anton Dohrn, was set up inside this.
During his first visit to Naples, Dohrn stayed at the Hotel Tramontano Beaurivage. He invited Hans von Marées to fresco the rooms of the Aquarium, creating what can only be described as a marine paradise for the observation of the fauna of the Gulf of Naples and of the Mediterranean with 26 tanks containing more than 200 species.
In the same years, F. Marion Crawford, a famous writer of mystery and novels set mainly in Italy, stayed at the Tramontano Beaurivage when passing through Naples. Her books were printed and distributed all over the world by the publishers B.Tauchnitz of Leipzig, Germany. The Hotel still has a historical library including many of her novels.
1886 marked the arrival in Naples of a young marine biology researcher, George Parker Bidder, the son of a wealthy English family with a passion for literature, the hobby of writing poetry and an admirer of classical art. Bidder, sent by the University of Cambridge to Naples to the court of Anton Dohrn, stayed three months, lodging in an initial period in a boarding house managed by the English Protestant church. He was to return again in 1887 mainly for short periods, moving on Dohrn’s advice to the Tramontano Beaurivage, where he always occupied the most beautiful suite.
As already mentioned, apart from marine biology, one of George Parker’s main interests was literature, as amply confirmed by the volumes he purchased between 1886 and 1905 that are part of the above mentioned library.
In the mid 1880s, the Hotel was extremely popular with English, French, American, Swiss, German and Scandinavian visitors who mingled with the Italian and Neapolitan guests that thronged the salons around the Hall and Bar where they sipped tea and tasted a speciality of the Chef, the almond soufflé. Coffee was obviously still the main beverage served to guests at the Library tables, together with another speciality of the Hotel, the Gateau Moka, made of biscuit pastry baked in the oven and covered with a coffee-flavoured butter cream when cold, all accompanied by an impeccable service. The Hotel was furnished in Liberty stile and, at the end of the eighties, was decorated with majolica ware and tile paintings adorned with romantic scenes, the work of Laino.
One morning in 1889, Mr. Brazil, accompanied by a bailiff who had come to confiscate the Hotel for the owner’s gambling debts, knocked on the door of Mr.Parker’s suite – it was about 10 o’clock and the scientist was as usual sleeping until late in the morning. Brazil knocked several times and Parker finally responded in an annoyed but courteous voice. Remaining outside the door with the bailiff, Brazil explained what was happening. At this point, without getting out of bed, Parker told the owner to put the Hotel on his bill.
This rather romantic story was told by Parker’s daughter.
From that day on, the Hotel was known as Hotel Parker’s – Tramontano and appeared with this name in the famous Baedeker’s guidebooks, that were extremely fashionable all over the continent.
A frequent visitor to the Hotel was Lamont Young, a famous engineer who lived at the Parco Grifeo above, as his father (Giacomo) had bought a number lots from Prince Grifeo in 1869 and in 1873. He was an habitué of the Bar where he passed the time with his friends, mainly intellectuals and artists such as Vincenzo Caprile and Postiglione and later with Virginia Woolf and Oscar Wilde.
Lord Currie, the British Ambassador to Italy, the Princess of Sweden and Norway and the Grand Duchess Anastasia de Meklembourg Kannes also lodged at Parker’s.
Together with the other large Neapolitan hotels, visits were also made by King Victor Emanuel II and Prince Amedeo of Savoy.
These were the years in which many foreign magnates, in particular English, made offers to the City Council to invest in the new Chiaia quarter that was already becoming the “salon” of the city.
At the dawn of the new century, Naples had become a city not to be missed and Parker’s provided a vast range of exclusive amenities. With regard to this, a 1990 Scottish guidebook published by Murray reports the following regarding the Hotel: “Healthiest and beautiful situation; close to the railway stations for San Martino, (funicular) and Pozzuoli and Baiae; especially convenient for sightseeing. An English house. Recommended to English and American Visitors. Tariff and Electric Light in every room. Lift. Fixed charges, always including Baths in the Rooms, light and attendance.” From 1990 to 1905, G. Parker continued to own the Hotel, visiting Naples in the Summer months. His director was J.J. Loeliger, a German Swiss who encouraged visitors from Germany, Switzerland and the countries of Northern Europe.
The Hotel and Avallone’s FamilyAfter the end of the War in 1945, the Hotel continued to be requisitioned until 1947, the year in which the owner Loelinger died.
The Hotel was inherited by Loelinger’s son, Hans, who however put the Hotel up for sale at an auction. At the auction, the Hotel was awarded to Francesco Avallone, an attorney, who became the proprietor and initiated the restoration of the Hotel after the occupation.
These were the years of the referendum between monarchy and republic, the rebirth of the city after the allied air raids; tourism was a standstill and many years were to pass before it was to acquire a new driving force.
Naples was still however a live city with albeit few hotels. Francesco Avallone squared up to the task of restoring Hotel Parker’s to its rightful position at the top of Neapolitan Hotel accommodation
So many famous people who left their mark on the Sixties and Seventies have passed through the salons of Hotel Parker’s, always expressing their enthusiasm for the marvelous view and the warm welcome of the city, but as we continue to stress, their thanks should go to the discretion of the staff of the Hotel and the fact that they are assured a peaceful stay far from fans, paparazzi and journalists.
As we sadly recall, on November 23, 1980 the region of Campania was hit by one of the most tragic earthquakes ever recorded. Naples was also damaged, although to a minor extent, with cracks in many constructions and historical buildings including Hotel Parker’s.
The building had to be restructured without however altering the external architecture of the façade. An arduous task, involving both soul-searching and courageous decision that the proprietors, Francesco Avallone and his daughter Sissi completed successfully, endowing the city with a renewed Grand Hotel Parker’s.
Work started in 1982 and was completed in 1990. Eight years of work that, while safeguarding the monumental façade with the beautiful Liberty arcade, redesigned the interior, without however impairing the historical character of the Hotel and retaining that particular atmosphere of the time and of the travelers who have experienced this.
Those who enter the Hotel today cannot help but admire the sumptuously-decorated salons and the authentic antique furniture that the proprietors have arranged in the salons and rooms, the paintings and the bronze and marble sculptures that decorate the walls of the Hotel and the antique library with around 700 volumes dating back to the end of the 19th century and the start of the 20th.
Many companies have preferred the warm, welcoming atmosphere of Grand Hotel Parker’s and the impeccable professional expertise of its staff, combined with an ancient tradition of hospitality. The managers of the major international cosmetics industries have preferred this Hotel that also traces a path of styles and eras in the connotations of the furniture and fittings that stretch from Louis XVI to the Directory, from Charles X to Empire style; the attentively-selected shades of colors, a successful blending with those of the Gulf just outside the front of the Hotel.
In 1990, Naples hosted the World Soccer Championships, an event that helped relaunch the image of Naples all over the world after twenty years of transition for the tourist sector. The rediscovery of the city’s cultural and artistic heritage, always present in the minds of cultivated tourists, also proved to be highly effective in attracting visitors.
There is no doubt however that a cultural event such as “Napoli Porte Aperte”, firmly desired by a non-institutional organization such as “Napoli 99”, has succeeded in rekindling the interest of that large swathe of not only foreign tourists who, for years, have “skipped” the city on their way to the resorts of Amalfi and Sorrento coast, considered to be safer.
The unequalled cultural heritage of Naples has promoted the city to a prominent place on the Italian scene and the large Neapolitan hotels are also part of this “wealth”.
Grand Hotel Parker’s is undeniably the oldest of these and has preserved its peculiar trait of being present with discretion in a city that has always been warm-heartedly chaotic.
During the G7, the Russian delegation headed by Boris Yelstin, accompanied by his wife, lodged at Parker’s. They were visited by the British Premier John Major and the Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi. Other distinguished visitors to Naples included the President of the United States, Clinton and his wife Hillary. Parker’s has offered its hospitality to such famous personages as the author Domenico Rea, Princess Alexandra of Greece, Prince Philip of Bourbon, the heir to the Spanish throne, the ballerina Luciana Savignano, the film director Nanni Moretti, the actor Giorgio Albertazzi and Nino Manfredi, the actress Stefania Sandrelli and the amusing Lino Banfi and Pietro de Vico; without forgetting David Bowie, Amii Stewart, Zucchero and the historical rock group Deep Purple.
In the year 2010, Grand Hotel Parker’s had one hundred and fourty candles on its birthday cake, each representing a milestone in the long history of this Hotel that has witnessed the dawn of a new society, projected towards the new century of progress, which is now drawing to a close.
One morning in 1889, Mr. Brazil, accompanied by a bailiff who had come to confiscate the Hotel for the owner's gambling debts, knocked on the door of Mr.Parker's suite - it was about 10 o'clock and the scientist was as usual sleeping until late in the morning. Brazil knocked several times and Parker finally responded in an annoyed but courteous voice. Remaining outside the door with the bailiff, Brazil explained what was happening. At this point, without getting out of bed, Parker told the owner to put the Hotel on his bill.
6 general manger: Mr. Castronuovo, Mr. Erba, Mr.Lodi, Mr. Ferri, Mr. Rota, Mr. Richard, Morelli Vittorio