Joelle Lifestyle - The World at Home

According to Tonino Cacace, a second generation owner of the hotel Capri Palace, “My little Village, is a place for the soul.” And in the preface of an elegant black and white Hotel brochure that looks more of an art book than anything else, he writes in a manner of a poet:

” The ancient Greek and inhabitants of Anacapri used to climb to their village thousands of years ago up steep steps cut into rock face overlooking the sea and rising up into the clouds. Later, this became a spectacular road that still exists to this day, and its peak amid the tiny dwellings and secret gardens of today’s town Anacapri (ana meaning above in Greek) becoming the Acropolis of the island.

And it is in this same small town, with its narrow alleyways and dazzling white buildings standing in sharp contrast against the  brilliant blue of the sea, preserving its typical Mediterranean architecture that sits the Capri Palace, standing over the ruins of a great Roman palace built by the Roman Emperor Augustus and further embellished by the Emperor Tiberius.

The columns arches and vaults bear a fleeting resemblance to the original Imperial Palace and the pure white architecture of the Mediterranean islands.

The sea he carries on is unquestionably the dominant element here : It is in the flavor of our dishes, and in the eyes and smiles of our people: the sea will continue to stir our soul as we relive the beauty of this magnificent place, where over the century time has elapsed slowly, and the days roll by at a leisurely pace”.

The day I met Tonino (diminutive for Antonio) Cacace,  was few weeks before my recent arrival in the hotel; he happened to hear, don’t ask me how, I was visiting his Palace asking questions around and like a Greek god coming down the Olympus, had someone call me in to present himself so that luckily, I could pay him my respects gracefully with an absolute stunning interview.

Before I have a chance to shake his hands , I am immediately captured by the magnetism of this tall and dark haired man with blue eyes, far bluer than the sea describes so poetically in his brochure.

I am struck almost breathlessly and in shock by the depth of such gaze into mine. Interlaced with simple and polite gestures, almost too humble for an emperor casually dressed in bright white linen,he asks for a San Pellegrino water for me and a grapefruit juice for him. Waiter disappears and here I am confronted with this charming Italian hotelier my Belkin recorder and the Caprean sea breeze reminding me I am alive .

Always through his eyes with a gentle but firm tone of voice, I learn he’s a man whose passions for art and philosophy make his day-to day a living inspiration for the close at heart Palace he inherited and the people in the village he was born. Through ethical, social and cultural responsibility his conscious mission is to preserve  the community of Anacapri historic and territorial roots transcending them all together into a modern, global and better place to live.No doubt his immense, restless almost spiritual devotion will allow him to reign supreme.

The Hotel has its origins in the inn “Mariantonia“, once located in the center of Anacapri, operated since the 19th century by the Cacace family. ” It was my father, Mario, who built the hotel in the sixties” he confides me with a serious look on his face then adds ” He was a man with a vision. He understood far in advance the hospitality development around the Piazzetta and to build a hotel in a mountain (at the foot of Mount Solaro with its magnificent views over the Gulf of Naples and Ischia Island) seemed at the time the idea of a fool.”

Sipping his juice without pausing for thoughts he carries on:  “He also knew how to raise a future hospitality entrepreneur, he therefore sends me to a severe college in Rome to follow humanistic studies where I ended up getting a degree in law which was not exactly what I had in mind for myself.  In 1975, my father unfortunately passes away tragically at only 53 years of age. I was 23″.

For a man that age, handsome and charming the way he already was and whose obvious only interests at the time were beautiful women and a life of carefree enjoyments, he found himself suddenly trapped by destiny  turning that ripe boy he was into a young busy entrepreneur with plenty of company and family duties on his plate.

With the utmost dedication and following in the footsteps of his father,  he dramatically transforms the previous four stars hotel, into a top luxurious five stars, today, member of the prestigious The Leading Small Hotels of the World group. Two restaurants featuring Caprese Cuisine one of which is gastronomic, l’Olivo which recently got awarded with a Michelin star, and working for its second, the magnificent  Beauty Farm considered by Conde NastTraveler readers as the best medical spa in the world, a luxury boat and limousine service, a Vip private heliport.

He achieves this clear success by reducing progressively the hotel physical dimensions , redefining thus the concept of luxury and its hospitality.

In the early Eighties he introduces before anyone else in Europe rooms with available private pools a revolution at that time, and from the 110 rooms in the seventies he reaches today to  a number of spacious 77. I must tell you my suite , reminiscent of the most beautiful Roman coastal villas, overlooks an internal garden filled with Jasmine, Lemon and flowering orange trees. And by the way, it is called Artemide like the Greek goddess. Among other ‘goddess’, La Callas, Monroe, Adjani, Athena, and Acropolis have black and white pictures on their walls that make you feel like taking pictures and stars home with you.

The Hotel interior has been gutted since and redone with a curious grace  and elegance as the result of a collaboration between Tonino Cacace and his ex-girlfriend, the talented architect Fabrizia Frezza. With the remodeling, the old hotel rigidity typical of the stark architecture of the seventies acquired a feeling of a  home hosting firstly friends than clients.

With its stone floors, columns creating at times the optical illusion of the Athens Parthenon, arches and vaulted ceilings, every element is a reminder of a glorious past that seems to come to life in all its splendor.

The Travertine baths, the warm tones of the fabrics and the sumptuous white and gold décor at time Louis XVI style at time reminding the light and the warmth of Mediterranean hospitality blended in each and every room with understated elegance and touches of minimalist rigueur.

” Excellence for me is the attention to detail, Tonino Cacace adds with an introspective look – it’s a consequence of an inner restlessness, uneasiness that constantly pushes your performance to its best being the example to all those that together work for the same scope; in a company or in a hotel, it does not really matter ”

As a result of this holistic concept ,prestigious  ‘Made-in-Italy’ companies like Loro Piana, six generation suppliers of cashmere and exclusive fabrics for plus-ultra demanding customers are partners with Tonino Cacace turning him into the top world consumer of the precious wool and striped grey linens for the hotel’s common rooms, restaurant small bergeres, Poltona Frau’s armchairs all masterly hand-crafted by the expertise of Loro Piana’s Neapolitan upholsterers. Trust me something ” literally I am writing home about!”

Carlo Moretti for Murano, the hand blown glass factory from Venice created especially for the restaurant original pieces giving us the feel that art and design must me part  harmoniously of our basic everyday life.

Antonio attends a phone call, I drink my San Pellegrino and around me I notice the clientele, mostly European , some Lebanese, a chic crowd, mainly young discerning and sophisticated couples of a self-made generation whose values were acquired by hard work. It’s a clientele that is far more contemporary and demanding, they consciously differ from their parents who are still satisfied  with the aristocracy of old- glamour cliche living without a doubt a trend that today, as iconic as it was, is finally over and definitely depasse.

Silence, discrection and spirit preservation are in today’s menu opposed to the sixties where everyone needed to be seen and Jamais- vu (never seen ) at a local charming Capri Piazzetta during un-globalized times

Clients are dressed in Missoni, Paul Smith and Hermes, their sandals are local, Saint Barth are the Lotions that circulate around the pool, Cowboy hats, the eye wear is from Etro, and lots of Coral understates jewelry. In the evening jewelry is from De Grisogono of course, a long time hotel habitue,

Gwineth Patrol recently was the star at the Capri Palace for the latest Diego Della Valle ( long time friend of Cacace)  Tod’s advertising campaign. Not to mention, and Tonino Cacace is discrete, in the space of just a few years, it became the favorite destination of famous personalities from the worlds of the arts, business, and entertainment. Among them Julia Roberts, Harrisson Ford, Madonna, Liz Huxley, Mariah Carey, Witney Houston, John Grisham, Frederick Forsyth, and the Hariri family.

A special suite, the Megaron, had been reserved for your stay. The roof provided with a heavy crystal layer can be opened allowing you to enjoy and gaze the starred sky at night from your personal and private round pool.  By your side standing in the cozy roof garden, the luxury of an olive tree to provide you with the feeling of  earthly fertility , and if you can, read me well, that olive tree has personally  been picked by Tonino Cacace himself especially for you  at mature age and installed using a helicopter. Knowing that tree would have only 50% of chances to survive, Tonino kept on talking to the tree so he could grow safe and healthy to harbor your wildest dreams and desires in case a falling star would knock at you small spot of sky.

Nothing more to tell in this post about this  Deus-ex-Machina whose personality and charisma made of the Capri Palace Hotel & Spa  one of the most undisputed exclusive and luxurious places in the world apart that…

On my bed side, a member of the hotel’s staff ( ” treated  like clients ” by Cacace on his father’s advice)  has left a small booklet with a collection of aphorisms by famous poets and writers illustrated by watercolors by Maestro Michel Constantini inviting their guests into a safe and good night sleep.

The one I picked before my own is from Khalil Gibran one of my very favorite poets: “You can’t touch the dawn, if you haven’t covered the paths of the night.”

I am sure Tonino Cacace’s soul as a man and an entrepreneur, checked that one out before falling into the  dream of a gold Palace upon a hill over a dark blue sea.