MILAN — Le Graal, Italian for the Grail, seeks to raise the bar on hospitality services, starting with design and architecture.
“The name Le Graal is from French but has Latin origins, which recalls what is rare, coveted, difficult to obtain: in short, an ultimate ideal,” Le Graal’s director of operations Claudio Ceccherelli said at a dinner here by Chef Giovanni Guarneri of Ristorante Don Camillo, in Ortigia, Sicily.
Ceccherelli has over 30 years of experience with the Hyatt Hotels group. He also conceived the exclusive Shedir Collection, which includes the well-known properties Capri Tiberio Palace and Palazzo Roma.
Le Graal was created and is a private investment by Italian entrepreneur Fabrizio Di Amato; Giuseppe Ambrosi is also a private shareholder in the project. Together, Ceccherelli said, they are pioneering their own idea of Italian excellence.
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First Stop: Cortina
The first opening will take place in the mountains of Cortina, Italy, later this year. Set in a 1920s-era chalet, the five-star hotel will feature 30 rooms, including 13 suites, all with balconies and sweeping mountain views. Facilities will include a fine dining restaurant, a café bistro with American bar, and a spa — all accessible to external guests.
Roman architect and designer Achille Salvagni, well known in luxury design circles for his ateliers in New York and Palm Beach, was enlisted to create tailor-made decor and furnishings and interior designs for the entire property. The project will feature custom-designed furnishings by Salvagni, Ceccherelli told WWD, explaining that the majority of the property’s furniture and decor were created specifically for the Cortina location.
Guarneri will also envisage the culinary concept throughout the property.
A Private Members’ Club in One of Rome‘s Most Beautiful Corners
The Cortina opening will be followed by a private members’ club on one of the most picturesque and historical streets in Rome: Via Giulia, which lies just steps away from Michelangelo’s lost bridge and which was created to connect the Farnese palace to the Tiber River.
The private club will be set within Palazzo Medici Clarelli. The 16th century property was built by architect Antonio da Sangallo the Younger together with his coworker Dosio around 1535, as his private residence. The property is said to have once boasted a rich painted mural that covered the entire facade with the portraits of Giovanni and Giuliano dei Medici and the Medici crest of Pope Clement VII (1523-1534).
The renovation of the property and construction of the private club also revealed some unexpected surprises likely to entice new members. The discovery of hidden frescoes led to some delays and as a result, the project has taken about four years to complete, Ceccherelli, explained.
Upon its completion, the club will have 11 rooms and suites, a treatment cabin, a gym, and an extensive food and beverage offering: two restaurants (a fine-dining venue curated by Guarneri and a fusion restaurant), an all-day lounge in the Palazzo cloister, an American Bar, an exclusive speakeasy and a cigar room.
Italy is in the throes of a private membership boom to cater to a growing wave of wealthy investors due to the flat tax of 100,000 euros a year with no limits to residency that was introduced by former Prime Minister Matteo Renzi. While work on Milan’s Core Club have been delayed, Casa Cipriani opened on Via Palestro over three years ago, and Soho House opened in Rome in 2021. The Wilde, which is the brainchild of its founder and chairman Gary Landesberg, opened in Milan in 2024.
Building an Elite Community
The bar for new members will be raised high, as the selection will set the tone for the entire Le Graal ecosystem.
“The idea is to create an ample collection of interconnected properties in which this community of people can identify with one another,” Ceccherelli said, adding that members will include avid travelers, professionals, creatives and visionaries linked by common values. There will also be a calendar and space dedicated to cultural, artistic and literary events.
Le Graal is in the process of restoring a Relais & Spa on Lake Garda, in a sprawling Palladian villa.
“We want to create something that’s both exclusive and distinct, and offer a lifestyle that deeply reflects the Italian soul but is open to international sensibilities,” he concluded.
