Don’t Wait, the Time Will Never Be Just Right.

This year, Grand Hotel Miramare celebrates its 120th anniversary. We’ve distilled the past twelve decades into twelve principles that now guide our approach to life. Each principle is a lesson learned from each decade, with our tenth principle below covering 1993 to 2002.

After the fun and excess of the 1980s, the 90s was a decade of trials and tribulation for Italy, marked by political instability and scandal.

Tangentopoli (literally meaning ‘bribe city’) was a nationwide investigation into corruption that implicated numerous politicians, business leaders and public officials. Its impact was felt throughout the early 90s.

The scandal led to the collapse of the traditional political order and the disintegration of many established political parties. It also saw the Italian government intensify its efforts to combat organised crime.

Despite this, throughout the 90s Italy continued to have a significant cultural impact on the global stage.

Italian fashion and design, exemplified by brands such as Versace and Prada, continued to grow internationally. While Italian cinema, with directors like Roberto Benigni and Giuseppe Tornatore, enjoyed success on the world stage. Benigni’s ‘Life Is Beautiful’ was released in 1997 but still remains popular today.

Side note: 1997 was the same year that Andrea Fustinoni - our Managing Director and owner - started his personal art collection. Andrea’s passion for art would later bleed into life at Grand Hotel Miramare with the creation of miramART (something we’ll return to in our next decade).

Back to the 90s and, despite some of the country’s instability, at Grand Hotel Miramare we were getting on with business. Having started working at the hotel in the 80s, Andrea was evaluating and evolving his beloved Mira. Something he still does to this day!

All of this leads to our tenth principle for life: non aspettare, non sarà mai il momento giusto. Or in English: don’t wait, the time will never be just right.

Life can be complex, confusing and noisy (see Italy in the 90s!). At times it’s easy to be paralysed by it. We hold off on doing something because we think it’s not the right time.

What we learned from the 90s was that there’s never a perfect moment to do things. You have to get on with business and continually adapt.

This is what we’ve done for the past 120 years, and what we’ll do for the next 120 (fingers crossed)!