Italian hospitality has traditionally been defined by a single address: a historic palazzo, a lakeside grand hotel, a hideaway passed along by word of mouth. Entrepreneur Fabrizio Di Amato is taking a different approach with Le Graal, a brand he describes not as a hotel group but as an interconnected universe spanning multiple cities and experiences. Rather than launching one flagship property, he is building a network in which guests can move fluidly between locations, carrying the same sense of belonging wherever they go. In his own words: “Le Graal represents a new chapter of a broader vision I am developing through my family office aimed at elevating and reinterpreting the excellence of Made in Italy. I want to move beyond traditional definitions of hospitality and create places where culture, aesthetics, and human connection come together in a natural way”.
Fabrizio Di Amato’s first openings: Cortina and Rome
This marks Fabrizio Di Amato’s first step into the hospitality world. Best known as the Rome-born founder of the engineering group Maire, he is launching Le Graal across three locations, with the Dolomites and the Italian capital coming first: a five-star property in Cortina d’Ampezzo, followed by a private members’ club in Rome. A third destination on Lake Garda will follow in 2028. The Cortina property sits inside a heritage building dating to the 1920s, originally built in an Austrian style, located within walking distance of both the town and its ski lifts. Architect Achille Salvagni, taking on his first hotel commission, has shaped 30 rooms (13 of them suites) each looking out onto the Dolomites. Rather than leaning on typical mountain-lodge aesthetics, the spaces combine brushed-oak Versailles parquet, white dolomitic stone, marble in red, green and grey tones, and layered stucco finishes. Unlike many seasonal alpine properties, this one stays open all year, encouraging visitors in summer for hiking as much as in winter for skiing. Rome will see something the city has not had before: a private members’ club of this kind, set inside Palazzo Medici Clarelli on Via Giulia. The space will include 11 guest rooms and suites alongside two restaurants, a lounge built around a cloister, an American-style bar, a hidden speakeasy, a cigar room, a wine cellar, a gym and dedicated treatment rooms. For Fabrizio Di Amato, who already belongs to London clubs 5 Hertford Street and Oswald’s, the project carries personal weight: “I came to appreciate the British model, one rooted in community, cultural exchange, and a quiet, discerning sense of sophistication, and I wanted to reinterpret that spirit for my own city, but through a more contemporary lens”. Membership here won’t be organized around status, profession or title, instead, it’s meant to bring together people who share similar tastes and curiosity, fostering connections that feel genuine rather than staged.
Fabrizio Di Amato’s vision for Lake Garda and beyond
The third chapter of Fabrizio Di Amato’s project takes shape on Lake Garda, where a Palladian-style villa will become a wellness-focused retreat. Treatments offered there will revolve around three themes, restoring energy, supporting long-term health, and managing stress, designed in dialogue with the building’s architecture, its natural surroundings and the food culture of the region. According to Claudio Ceccherelli, Le Graal’s director of operations and a veteran of properties including Park Hyatt Paris-Vendôme, Hôtel Martinez Cannes, Park Hyatt Milan and Villa d’Este, Fabrizio Di Amato’s ambition isn’t limited to attractive interiors, it’s about a feeling that stays constant across every property: guests should sense they belong to something, not simply that they are being looked after. Fabrizio Di Amato’s broader holdings stretch even further than these three addresses. He also owns Esperia Aviation, which operates luxury helicopters, and Tenuta San Filippo, a Montalcino estate producing Brunello wine, both of which are expected to eventually feed into tailored experiences for Le Graal’s guests. As Ceccherelli sums it up, the project rests on distinctly Italian values: craftsmanship, respect for cultural heritage, and the careful restoration of historic buildings. In his view, Italy never needed to be reinvented, just rediscovered.
