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All Italy Varese Grand Hotel Campo dei Fiori

Grand Hotel Campo dei Fiori

A once-luxurious, now abandoned hotel in the Italian Alps.

Varese, Italy

Added By
Ran Chen
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The abandoned hotel, with its antennae on top.   Mpiz
  Max Cortesi / Atlas Obscura User
  Max Cortesi / Atlas Obscura User
  Max Cortesi / Atlas Obscura User
  Max Cortesi / Atlas Obscura User
A Grand Hotel Campo dei Fiori balcony circa 1910.   Luca Segato
The remains of the funicular station.   Vale 93b
The driveway and front facade of the hotel.   Vale 93b
A tour through the Grand Hotel Campo dei Fiori’s ballroom.   Vale 93b
Architectural detail on a pillar in the hotel.   Vale 93b
The back of the hotel.   Vale 93b
the entrance to the hotel   massimiliano20097 / Atlas Obscura User
Grand Hotel Campo dei Fiori as it appeared circa 1910.   Luca Segato
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About

With all the charm of the Grand Budapest Hotel and the eerie emptiness of the Overlook Hotel, a once-grand hotel deteriorates on a mountaintop above Varese.

The Grand Hotel Campo dei Fiori was built a luxurious cousin to the smaller Palace Hotel in Varese in 1910, while tourism in Varese was on the rise. Its environs lent it an air of luxurious detachment from the world—in order to reach the mountaintop hotel, guests had to ride a steep funicular railroad, which you can still pass over on the way to the hotel.

The hotel was designed by the famous art nouveau architect Giuseppe Sommaruga, and the scenery inside the rooms of the palatial building rivaled the mountain views outside. Wrought iron gargoyles adorned balconies, and winding garden pathways were lit by gas lamps. 

For its first decades of operation, the art nouveau-styled hotel was brimming with elite guests. The first and second world wars dented business. In the decades to come, fewer and fewer people wanted to stay in the old hotel on the mountain.

The hotel closed in 1968. Despite various attempts to reopen it, the Grand Hotel Campo dei Fiori remained closed and mostly abandoned. In the 1980s, radio antennae were installed atop the roof of the historic building. This marred the appearance of the old hotel, but leasing out the rooftop allowed the owners to keep up with maintenance. 

The Castiglioni family owned the hotel until recently, and have employed caretakers over the years to maintain the building and its grounds. They and their families had the privilege of living alone in the 200-room hotel. Visitors must be content to gaze upon the hotel from the outside while hiking through the park, or to visit the hotel during the annual Feast of the Alpini, which celebrates Italy's traditional mountaineers. 

In 2016 the Grand Campo Hotel dei Fiori was sold to a private group owned by a former politician. Though no plans have been released for the hotel's redevelopment, the group has commented on the extensive work the building needs (it currently has no sewer system). Hopefully this will allow it to remain a gorgeous ruin for a little bit longer. Organized tours are sometimes available. 

For those unable to get to Varese, you're still in luck: The hotel was a filming location for a 2017 remake of the 1977 horror classic Suspiria. 

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Added By

ranchen

Edited By

placesiam, Molly McBride Jacobson, massimiliano20097, Max Cortesi

  • placesiam
  • Molly McBride Jacobson
  • massimiliano20097
  • Max Cortesi

Published

March 28, 2017

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Sources
  • https://it.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grand_Hotel_Campo_dei_Fiori
  • internet search and personal experience
  • http://www.varesenews.it/2013/07/sasanca-il-custode-che-da-dodici-anni-vive-al-grand-hotel-campo-dei-fiori/54886/
  • http://www.varesefunicolari.org/massiccio/massiccio.html
  • http://www.varesefunicolari.org/liberty/liberty.html
  • http://milano.corriere.it/notizie/cronaca/16_luglio_30/aria-belle-epoque-varese-grand-hotel-campo-dei-fiori-784bd9d4-55c3-11e6-af7a-c71c10cda3a8.shtml
  • http://www.economist.com/blogs/prospero/2017/01/mountain-men
  • https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=10&ved=0ahUKEwjE1NyL1PfSAhXJ44MKHXWlCqoQFghoMAk&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.laprovinciadivarese.it%2Fstories%2Fvarese-citta%2Fil-grand-hotel-campo-dei-fiori-come-hollywood_1198239_11%2F&usg=AFQjCNGSaL32CQ89T-hexyfqtGXqD7_Vvw&sig2=mlyyx4V_lJDAvTUCfL3fRA
Grand Hotel Campo dei Fiori
Campo dei Fiori Regional Park
Varese
Italy
45.863575, 8.780461
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