A hotel with an old heart…
…and a story to be told!
The story of the Belvedere Dolomites Flower Hotel began in 1905 in Moena, a small village in Val di Fassa, with few inhabitants and little tourism.
It all started with the realisation of a dream. In 1904 a married couple, Maria (Tamburona) and Giuseppe (Chiena), decided to buy land that they both liked because it was the last place where the sun went down. On this great meadow, just above the village, they decided to build their future and that of their descendants: Hotel Belvedere! Chiena was a newcomer to the industry, he was a highly rated sculptor, while Tamburona came from a solid family of hoteliers: she was a very practical and level-headed woman who benefited from the tranquillity and peacefulness of her husband. In 1905 they finally opened the doors of the Hotel Belvedere, and their dream finally started to become a reality. Photos of the time show us a simple, modest hotel, surrounded by meadows and the world’s most beautiful mountains, the Dolomites! Tourism was still far away, but thanks to dedication and passion, the location was improving all the time. The five sons became increasingly valuable support for Maria, widowed in 1915. Difficult years followed as the Great War raged and the front moved ever closer.
Time passed and the war ended. Then they expanded. Meanwhile, Maria’s daughters got married and left the hotel, where only her son remained, Giuseppe (also called Chiena), who together with his wife Maddalena, lovingly carried on with the hotel, expanding and improving it whenever possible. Joseph and his wife Maddalena also experienced hard times with the pressure of the Second World War. The hotel was used as a military hospital, and they had to raise their three children with a fear of seeing all their work destroyed. The war ended and finally they got back to everyday life. With the economic boom and a renewed period of relaxation, tourists were encouraged to go on holiday and get to know new places, enjoying the fruits of their sacrifices. The Hotel Belvedere is still here, ready to accommodate whoever wants to visit!
The rebirth of the Belvedere Dolomites Flower Hotel
In 1986 the Belvedere Dolomites Flower Hotel, the old hotel that lived through nineteenth-century Moena, two world wars and the economic boom, was demolished to make space for the present hotel and to look towards the future. The old stone perimeter walls remain, with their strong foundations, everlasting and visible even now. The architects of this revival were Corrado Jellico, the only son of Giuseppe and Maddalena, and his wife Giannina, a real woman of Veneto who knew little of the hotel industry but had a great passion for flowers. Together they worked to bring the Belvedere Dolomites Flower Hotel into the future, they did it with will and energy. They never betrayed the true soul of Belvedere, which began as a small tavern and was to be like a home for their guests, where they felt at ease. The Belvedere Dolomites Flower Hotel was and is an honest hotel on which the sun sets last, where the food is good, the décor and lovingly cared for, and which still retains some of the original furniture. It is a unique hotel thanks to Giannina, who gave vent to her creative flair in creating a beautiful garden…a garden that speaks to people’s hearts!
It is not easy to summarise the long history of this old hotel and its old family of hoteliers, and neither is it easy to convey the essence, the soul of the job and a place that cannot be separated from the people who have created and carried it forward. My father Corrado and my mother Giannina succeeded very well and I hope to do the same with the support and intelligence of my brother Francesco.
I’m Stefania Jellico, the great-grandson of the first Joseph Chiena and Maria Tamburona.
Great-grandfather Giuseppe 1855-1915
Great-grandmother Maria 1866-1942
Grandfather Giuseppe 1905-1987
Grandmother Maddalena 1906-1980
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