For Consideration
Sometimes when I can’t fall asleep, I take the opportunity to watch an old movie that’s been on my list for too long. This week that was Summertime, directed by David Lean and starring a fantastic Katharine Hepburn, filmed entirely in Venice, released in 1955. I couldn’t have loved it more, starting with the brilliant and beautiful illustrated opening credits, such a testament to how well the human hand can set a scene. More interestingly perhaps is how true the American in Italy tourist tropes still ring true today – a solo traveler not dissimilar to myself wanting to immerse herself in the place and culture and not not a bit overly-aware of her aloneness in doing so, a loud couple there to check off box after box on their sightseeing itinerary, and a younger couple of beautiful creatives who seem to have it all. The Italian tropes rang equally true, but I won’t spoil it all, as I highly suggest a watch for yourself if you haven’t already. The icing on top is that a hotel where all these guests are staying is an equal character, as should be the case in Venice. Delightful.
I’ve tired of the same hotels and variations on the same headlines everywhere on every algorithm my phone holds. So much of it is the same – anybody who’s a potential guest knows that Passalacqua is worth the hype by now. Ischia can be described in so many more ways than as “hidden gem” or “where Italians actually go.” May I suggest “The Italian island with the oldest spa in the world (Nitrodi)” or “The Italian island that functions year-round” or “The Italian Isle Where You Go to Cure Your Ailments?” If we’re fighting back against AI, we need to fight for more nuanced thinking, taste, and, voice. This is also to say, you don’t have to post just to post – content for content’s sake never worked, even in its social infancy.
ZINE by Matt Klein is one of my favorite Substack publications – it always has such sharp analysis of current cultural truths that are being felt but not widely or aptly articulated. This past issue, Our Culture Doesn’t Want Writers, spoke to many of the same refrains I’ve had on using AI to write, specifically around the concern for the lack of and loss of the critical process.
Without process, there are only words. And words for the sake of words were never the point.
This brings me to a follow-up to my argument against content for content’s sake – Substack has become, for many, just another channel in the funnel. I much prefer when a creator who is not a writer by trade or passion takes to the image-dominant or list format instead of having AI make sentences out of your bullet points for you. I encourage people to bring what you uniquely have to the table, instead of trying to silently retrofit and/or mimic what your analytical brain says is good business.
Matt wrote another fantastic paragraph, that really cuts into this –
Unfortunately, our moment isn’t asking for writing. Because writing is intensive. Tedious. Boring. Words aren’t images. They’re not sounds. And therefore, writing struggles to trigger that juicy engagement — the reactions and remixes — all the things we creators and consumers insatiably crave. We want instant gratification. Immediate payoffs. Returns on investment. We want speed and spectacle.
In my own corner of the world that is Substack, where this is my full-time job and I take days upon days to craft every post, you’ve probably noticed that I’ve strayed from posting at the same time every week. And yes, I did so without asking for your permission. The reality is writing, as an act, and thinking, as an editor of a Substack publication, suffers under constant deadline. Yes, being a team of one is a main contributor to this but that is also what, at least in its current state, Happy Hoteling is. Knowledge, thought, curation, opinion from one singular point of view – nothing gets lost in the whittling down for word count, nothing gets shared because of compromise, and nothing gets shared because of a pitch, either. I hope and think that this breeds trust and the many merits of that.
Whether you were cognizant of it or not, thank you for allowing this shift to give me immensely more freedom to create from my heart and mind instead of the clock. If I didn’t feel as though the work I create is of value and that the body of work in the archive wasn’t so deep, I would not be doing this. But, as yet another reminder that I am not the humblest human, I am proud of my work and I am immensely grateful for your time, attention, trust, and support. Really, truly.
(And yes, that means I have the time and space to extrapolate on what I choose to have in the For Consideration section.)
Links and articles I loved in the last week-and-change:
My friend Alessandro Aarbace is the owner of my favorite restaurant in Capri, Pulalli, a place I’ve been fortunate to frequent since its start, with his father Fabrizio at the helm. This video where Ale shares the story is so well done and a testament to the power of storytelling when it comes from the person in charge. I had him In Residence a couple years ago, which you can read here.
See Gaudí Architecture Without the Crowds in These Spanish Cities Beyond Barcelona by Robin Catalano for AFAR.
My namesake, Marisa Berenson, has an exciting collaboration with Zara Home that launches June 5 – Elle Decor shares the inspiration. This is a way to actually democratize taste, as it is, in ways, a transference of the exposure that often comes with social class. I have a lot to say about taste and class, if anyone is interested.
Hotel launch events don’t often excite me, but when they really embrace the emotion they’re trying to convey and create a sense of awe (an all-powerful emotion in luxury travel) I’m inclined to give them a digital standing ovation. Belmond Grand Hotel Timeo did exactly this for the launch of their new Dior spa.
Alberto Ponis is a master of going beyond just a sense of place to actually capture the land through architecture.
For Consumption
Da Adolfo, the iconic beach club and restaurant on the Amalfi Coast, has some of the best branding out there – I’ve often used it as a reference of aspirational simplicity. Until now, snagging a t-shirt or hat was a bit of a bragging right in certain circles. Now, Staud has collaborated with them bringing the fish to all. I love the bag and the swimsuit.
H&M continues to deliver with the great color simple summer shirts – this is a great blue, this has a classic scarf detail, and this is a sleeveless silhouette that wouldn’t be out of place in Summertime.
These mango colored Mango jeans!
You know how much I love a novelty bag, and this crab is the current object of my affection.
For Today
The insider Capri 411 all in one place, only the greatest hits.
When I actually recommend visiting the Italian cities.
My top hotel recommendations for the cities – Rome, Florence, Milan, Venice, Torino, Naples, and Palermo.
Taking to the lakes – Como, Garda, Iseo, Maggiore, and Orta.
Campania on and off the beaten path: a dip into Naples before going into the Sorrentine Peninsula, the Amalfi Coast, the islands of Ischia and Procida, and Cilento.
The TLDR of the Tuscan Coast: Versilia, a ‘lil bit of the Etruscan Coast, and my beloved Maremma.
My greatest Liguria loves – the best towns and hotels and all the ferry lines to get you in between them.
The TLDR of the Islands (all the ones I’ve been to: Giglio, Ponza, Capri, Ischia, Procida, Favignana, Salina, Panarea, and Filicudi).
Happy, Happy Hoteling!
Before we get to on-the-ground reviews and tales of this Italian summer of mine, I want to answer all the Italy questions I get most frequently in one place. Most of these answers are somewhere in the archive, but again, I understand that the Substack search functionality is sub-par. This with The Italian Hotel Matchmaker should really, truly leave you wanting for nothing in the Italian hotel department.
No photos, just 8,920 words. You could consider this the Happy Hoteling version of Frommer’s Italy or Rick Steves. The hope is that this answers the question you were going to DM me about, and that it does answer all the unanswered messages in all my inboxes.
I have the comprehensive guide on happyhoteling.com, and various partial lists in the archive, but still I get asked, even by those closest to me, what are your must musts.
These are my most favorite hotels, restaurants, beach clubs, cafes, stores, and activities –
HOTELS
La Minerva sits in the #1 spot, because of the owners (brothers, my friends) and their world-class hospitality combined with the absolute Caprese nature of every inch of the hotel. It’s magic. And yes, I’ve sent many people to La Minerva who did not know the owners and left feeling like they did. Previous review here, and the owners’ favorites in Capri here.
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