For more than 30 years, Silvio Ursini has been leading the charge at Bulgari, the high-end Italian jeweler and luxury brand. Under Ursini’s strategic and creative direction, the brand has expanded into new categories including watches, accessories, fragrances, and most recently, contemporary hotels and resorts.
However, the Napoli, Italy-born hospitality veteran is not interested in scalability and rapid growth. He is, however, known for his unwavering pursuit to find the next, perfect location for a Bulgari Hotel—even if it takes a decade.
“In Paris, we had a very clear idea of which neighborhood we wanted to be in, and then we looked at opportunities,” he says. “We have been looking at sites for the past 15 years, easily, and turned down many. If you really want to do something extraordinary, it must be perfect.” Bulgari Hotel Paris opened in late 2021 and landed prime real estate on the famed Avenue George V.
Ursini’s commitment to the brand’s craftsmanship and the luxury-end consumer has led the company to open seven Bulgari Hotels & Resorts with five more currently under construction. Later this year, Bulgari will add two more hotels to its portfolio: Bulgari Hotel Tokyo and Bulgari Hotel Roma.
Ursini also sits on the Board of Save The Children Italia and the World Wide Fund for Nature Italy. Ursini chatted with Penta about his vision for Bulgari Hotels.
PENTA: What is Bulgari’s approach to hotel design?
Silvio Ursini: We like to bring to each location a luxury hotel that is of timeless glamour like our jewels and of a quality that is unmatched in the industry. Our hotels feature an unmistakable identity and are characterized by a unique contemporary style.
For the design of our hotels and resorts, we have chosen the architectural firm Antonio Citterio Patricia Viel, as they have been able to interpret our vision of luxury as an expression of superior Italian craftsmanship by creating a very luxurious, refined environment. They have been able to develop our idea of how luxury should be translated into a physical place.
What do you look for when scouting for the next Bulgari Hotel location?
For all the projects we develop we do not want to create “another” luxury hotel, but a unique hotel in a unique location, and this is the reason why we invest so much time to find the only place that can really guarantee an extraordinary experience. We do not care about how long the whole process will take, but the result we want to achieve.
Doing a Bulgari Hotel is like crafting a jewel: If you don’t start from the right stone, you can be good at all the rest, but it will never be an extraordinary jewel. A unique site must have the right address, the right characteristics, the right features, and on top of that it has to have that immaterial thing called in Latin the genius loci, “the spirit of the place,” which is intangible. You either have it or you don’t.
More: RM Sotheby’s Auctions the Ferrari Daytona Prototype
We have no rush to open hotels, therefore we spend time carefully looking for the perfect location. Once we find it, then we also need to make sure that it is not just a dream but a concrete opportunity.
Bulgari originally started as an Italian luxury fashion house. How does the fine jewelry line and Italian heritage play a role in the hotel side of the business?
Our hotel business is the ultimate expression of Bulgari’s multifaceted style. Hotels, as jewels do, bring the Italian Bulgari luxury experience, beyond design and creativity, around the world. Not only: the hotels represent a unique venue for the Bulgari brand to host its product presentations, entertain its customers and friends. …
The architectural design is reduced, powerful and relies on the extensive use of rich materials and finishes such as woods, marbles, and textiles, and branded residential furniture from Italy’s leading brands. Many details are custom designed and made to order.
Bulgari Hotels & Resorts are mostly suites. What drove that decision?
Compared to other luxury hotels, our rooms and suites are fewer in quantity so that we can concentrate on the quality of the experience and build a true relationship with our customers. We know how to be attentive to every single detail and to offer the world-class, personalized service that is expected from Bulgari.
What are some trends you’re seeing with luxury travelers?
Especially post pandemic, we have seen a renewed desire to travel and experience all the better things in life. This is mirroring what is happening to the sales of our jewels, watches, and other products but specifically to our hotels and resorts there has been a boom, I must say.
The guests are eager to treat themselves with the largest suites, better wines, food, and enjoying their time away from home.
Where do you get your inspiration from?
From our brand DNA. Italian creativity is renowned for being daring, and Bulgari captures the joyful, expressive, and charismatic Italian lifestyle to its fullest.
This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
