Fragments

For me it started in the summer of 1967.

For years before my parents had been holidaying annually on the Italian Riviera. Quite how or when they first found this beautiful part of the world, sadly, I never discovered. From what I can deduce from searching through old photographs, it was sometime between 1955 and 1960.

I do remember that it captured them totally and every year they pined to return to the sunshine of the Riviera after the tedium of the wet Irish winters.

Their discovery of Liguria in the mid to late 1950s dovetails with Italy’s post war recovery which was more or less complete by 1955. It also fits with what was to become the rapid expansion of tourism to Europe from the early 1960s onwards.

Up to 1970 they always stayed in the same Grand Hotel in Sanremo - the Hotel des Londres. Dating from around 1870, these hotels were like palaces and became the destination of the rich and well heeled from across the world. Sanremo grew as a tourist destination not least as its climate, both in summer and winter, was ideal for attracting the upper middle classes for relaxation and sunshine. Unlike the French Côte d’Azur which tended to attract the celebrity types of the day from around the world, the Italian Riviera appealed to the wealthy middle class from northern Italy and beyond.

The grand hotels were complete unto themselves, catering for a luxury lifestyle where standards were expected to be, and indeed were, very high. The rooms were large, almost palatial and by the late 1950s all the rooms would have been upgraded to have en-suite bathrooms.

Nothing was ever too much trouble for the staff who were always polite and friendly.

Memories are of course a series of fragments from which one can piece together certain aspects of the past but, like a jigsaw with missing pieces, the picture is never completely clear.

I remember having to go to bed in the early afternoon of the day we were to fly to Nice. I remember the Air France Carvelle aircraft and my parents immaculately attired for the journey. I remember disembarking at Nice into the warm night air and the palm trees. And then fragments of the journey along the middle Corniche road from Nice through Menton towards the Italian border. Even at night time the views along the coast were stunning as the road meandered, clinging to the slopes of the steep cliffs along the coast.

At some point during this journey I must have fallen asleep. I remember arriving at the hotel long after one in the morning. The main reception had long closed for the night but the night porter, Luigi, was nevertheless expecting us.

Waking up on that first morning was like nothing I had experienced before. The quality of the light, the blue sky and sea and the fragrant air were intoxicating. Early in the morning the streets had been swept and the gardeners had been busy watering the flowers and grass - everything was fresh for the day ahead.

The staff, as I say, were always friendly and courteous, but to be a young child was to experience a wonderful kindness from all those one encountered. The Concierges in brown uniform all wore the cross keys symbol on their lapel. To be entitled to wear this symbol one had to be a member of Les Clefs d'Or, an elite, prestigious professional society of hotel concierges for whom nothing, however bizarre, was too much trouble.

There was also the discovery of what seemed a strange item of sanitary ware which we learnt was called a bidet and was designed for washing feet…!

And then there was dining. Everyone, without exception, dressed for dinner and whilst the days of black tie were over, gentlemen were still expected to wear a suit and tie.

Preparatory to dining, they would take a passeggiata - a leisurely pre prandial stroll to see and be seen before drifting off to the grand dining room and that sense of formality that made the evening so memorable.

This, unfortunately, is where the fragments tail off. The holidays in the sun passed in what seem today like the lifespan of a mayfly. And like all good things they come to an end and reality rudely intrudes.

And all good things indeed did come to an end. We stayed at the Grand Hotel des Londres one last time in 1968. Something had changed. It was not entirely the fault of the hotel but mass tourism had got the better of them. They had succumbed to the package holiday tourist.

The package holiday industry had begun in the early 1960s and by the end of the decade had matured such that it was becoming increasingly difficult to survive if you avoided this part of the market. And so it was that the Grand Hotel allowed itself to be dragged away from what it did best and standards slipped.

My parents were aghast when, one evening, they found themselves dining amongst those improperly attired. They rightly felt insulted at being charged the full hotel rate and being expected to maintain standards whilst others enjoyed the same experience at less cost and without the courtesy to dress correctly.

Interestingly something else changed. I think even the staff were affected by the growth of mass tourism which had a coarsening effect on the standards of service that one had become used to. Perhaps for them too the good days were over.

For many years I have pondered returning to Liguria to rediscover the past. If only I could find the missing fragments from happy days of childhood in the sun. But somehow I know deep down that this would be a profound mistake. There would be little to be gained and the disappointment would be crushing.

So I content myself with the fragments I can hold on to and now and again discover another lost piece when searching through boxes of memorabilia.

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About the Author:

Nicholas Engert is the founder and creative director of Nicholas Engert Interiors, a studio known for its timeless, elegant and understated design philosophy. With decades of experience in interior architecture and design, Nicholas brings a refined eye and a wealth of knowledge to every project, blending form, function and character with a deep understanding of client needs. Every product featured in the studio’s collection is personally selected to meet exacting standards of quality, design, and aesthetic integrity.