The Curation: Volume 60
What kind of hotel person are you? Il Pellicano or Mezzatorre? Hotels for each type of guest. Plus, tips for pursuing an Italian visa, and really good European rentals.
Today’s Agenda
A peek under the strategic hood of Happy Hoteling through the two main personas I write for. They’re staunch fans of two sister hotels – Il Pellicano and
23 additions to hotel lists – Spain, France, Croatia, Cyprus, Greece, Mexico, and The UK. And, for fun, just this once, they’re broken down into which audience I think would most appreciate each hotel, and which appeal to both – the Happy Hoteler at-large.
Really good European rentals to consider for this summer or next. On the Costa Brava of Spain, a 16th-century masterpiece in Italy, and in Split, Croatia.
I got the visa – the tale and things I wish I knew before.
For Consideration
The perfect classic, full-length, full-bodied striped shirtdress.
Two-toned jellies.
A fish vest.
A great oversized striped poplin shirt.
The it sneakers of the year.
Eyelet white jeans.
Wide-leg linen palazzo pants I just got and love.
Happy Hoteling! I will see you next Sunday – this week I’m trying to cross the finish line on the holy grail map of Happy Hoteling Around the World.
Are you a Pellicano Person or a Mezzatorre Person?
There’s a chance this won’t make sense to anyone, but I hope it’s a “wait, yes” with at least someone.
I feel as though, in a huge generalization, my audience falls into two types of taste and preferences and they align with two sister hotels in Italy, Il Pellicano and Mezzatorre.
This week, I posted a Substack Note asking people to share their favorite hotels. My favorite question, to no surprise.
In the responses, Mezzatorre was the only hotel mentioned more than once. In my In Residence feature where I interview people I admire and ask about their favorite hotels, Il Pellicano has been mentioned the most often in the top spot. They’re both run by the same hospitality group, and under the incredible eye of Marie-Louise Sciò, but to me, they feel (keyword) quite different. The people who call each their favorite are equally disparate, in many ways.
Since I started the Happy Hoteling Substack, I’ve written for the same audiences. Firstly, for myself, because that’s how I tap my taste and stay true to myself, and for the general Hotel Person, and then for two specific personas.
In my strategy work, when creating a brand strategy, I would often craft and write personas to help guide the client and their internal team. They were a hit with my co-workers and the clients alike, since 2015 or so. They’re narrative and a hyper-specific characterization of a type of person and how they live. So, when I started this Substack, I naturally created strategic underpinnings, even if they were only in my head (I have quite a good memory).
This included, and still includes, two main personas: the Pellicano Person and the Mezzatorre Person. In one of my very first Substack posts, on July 16, 2023, I wrote a comparison of Il Pellicano vs Mezzatorre, as I had stayed at the former and fell in love with it in 2022, and had just stayed at the latter when the OG post was penned.
It doesn’t matter if you’ve actually stayed at these hotels or even want to stay at these hotels, and certainly please do not take the personas personally. They’re are meant to be the opposite – fictionalized representations of people with similar tastes and mentalities. Are you a Carrie or Charlotte, Serena or Blair, Ross or Joey type of thing. But for me, in my writing mind, it’s are you a Pellicano Person or a Mezzatorre Person? Would a Pellicano Person or a Mezzatorre Person like this hotel, or, even better – both?
While they’re fictionalized, they’re informed from consistent feedback and comments about each property.