From the Dolce Vita to the Thousand and One Nights the step is relatively short and has the scent of petrodollars. Rome, via Veneto. An infinite succession of Grand Hotels, signs of famous Italian brands and – an island in the midst of the triumph of Italian luxury – the US Embassy. A jewel that is, not too slowly, putting its best pearls on sale to the best buyers. The Arabs, indeed.
The Fifties are long gone and in place of the White Sheikh of Fellini's memory there is the Sultan of Brunei, who has cornered Eden in via Ludovisi. Meanwhile, the historic Polito family has sold the Regina Baglioni to the sovereign wealth fund of Qatar, which – insatiable – is about to close the purchase of the Excelsior and the Grand Hotel from the Americans of Starwood.
The shadow of the turban also insists on the Boscolo group, which could place – according to rumors reported by La Repubblica – the hotel in Piazza della Repubblica and the Aleph in San Nicola da Tolentino to the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority.
But the Arab invasion is not just about Rome. Qatar has taken over the Grand Hotel Baglioni in Florence and the Porta Nuova real estate development project in Milan.
For a long time, Villa d'Este in Cernobbio, on Lake Como, has been in the sights of Middle Eastern investors. To ward off the interest of the Emir of Brunei, the shareholders at the time locked up the property. For the record, the Sultan already owns the Principe di Savoia in Milan through the Dorchester group, the elegant Meurice in Paris and the exclusive Plaza Athenèe, The Dorchester and 45 Park Lane in London, up to the United States with the Palace in New York, The Beverly Hills in the town of the same name and the Bel Air in Los Angeles.
