At the beginning of the last century Erineo Castagnetti, the son of tenant farmers in the Lower Langa in Piedmont, emigrated to Turke
y to work in Constantinople. There, very quickly, he became maître d’ of the prestigious Pera Palace Hotel.
After returning to Italy he married Delfina Bertola and with her opened the Hotel Italia and the Hotel Riviera in Savona. After the birth of their son Francesco, an instinct for business as well as his entrepreneurial restlessness drove Erineo to acquire various hotels on the Ligurian Riviera. These included the Palace Hotel in Spotorno, which was requisitioned during the Second World War by the occupying German forces as a residence for their high command, but today has been converted into a luxurious residence. It was in the Palace that Francesco met Livia Pregliasco, a fifteen year-old Piedmont girl from Saliceto who was working in the bar of the prestigious five-star hotel.
The two paired up and moved to Genoa, where in rapid succession they opened the Hotel Duomo (next to San Lorenzo Cathedral) and the City Hotel. The years of the economic boom, and tourism from returning Italian emigrants at the start of the century, brought thousands of guests to the family's hotels.
The City, one of the first hotels to add a private bathroom to every room, became a benchmark in the city's hotel sector, and Livia received recognition as a "Lady of Hospitality".
Gianfranco, Francesco's son, took over its management during the years of economic stagnation and the slow decline of Genoa. The Hotel City then joined the Best Western chain, assuming the characteristics of a modern company with a managerial ethos, and came through the dark years with a renewed spirit and a position of prestige in the hotel sector of Genoa.
The Castagnetti family then decided to launch itself into a new adventure and opened the Best Western Hotel Porto Antico in the vicinity of the Aquarium, the latest tourist magnet of Genoa.
During this time Gianfranco met Aleksandra Kos, who was of Polish origin, and as a result of their union Ambra and Thea were born. Ambra seemed to be have more classical and artistic interests; Thea wanted to become a barmaid, just like her grandmother Livia.
And was that the start of a new love story and renewed hospitality?