Costa Smeralda between quiet luxury and dancing on the table: luxury has two souls

The touch swimming pool with salted water obtained from the stone overlooking the sea, the first in the history of the Hospitality, will also be one of the symbols of theHotel Pitrizzabut as soon as you sit on the restaurant terrace The grill You immediately understand that the place of the place also has precise faces. Giuseppe Serra has been Maître d’Hôtel since 1984, and after some time at the Ramatino hotel he came to work here and he never moved, a human pillar of this exclusive micromondo, always perfect in jacket and Papillon. He looks around: «Here there was only Mediterranean scrub and wild boars, I remember it well, they were the sixties. Then over the years the houses and villas have arrived ». In this ultra -nenader career, Giuseppe has close ties with regular guests. Like that distinct gentleman in shirt and linen trousers, who sits a few meters from us with his wife: «Over the years I have met his whole family. The ex -wife, the current one and the children I saw growing and getting married. I followed the evolution of his whole life and we can say we know each other, always with the right distance ».

The hotel for those who do not want to be seen

The wealthy guest is certainly not a well-known face, moreover in this structure-symbol of the Costa Smeralda You are just to keep a low profile. Whoever wants to be seen, murmur the premises, goes to Cala di Volpelegendary hotel not far away designed by Jacques Couëlle about sixty years ago according to avant -garde principles, today we would say of environmental sustainability. The “brother” pitrizes, 65 years of history, was born as a private hotel in the prince Aga Khan, Led figure in the business world and spiritual leader of the Ishiliti Muslims, the visionary who invented the Costa Smeralda transforming 55 kilometers of Costa Selvaggia into a luxury destination for the international jet-set. As a private residence of AGA Khan, pitrizes has become the refuge over the years that most embodies the idea of quiet luxury of the Costa Smeralda. The 49 rooms and the 16 stone villas (with prices ranging from one thousand to 25 thousand euros per night, depending on the type of room and the season) surrounded by cypresses and olive trees, immersed in perfect silence, were designed in the sixties byItalian architect Luigi Vietti To camouflage himself into nature, according to the diktat of not being visible “neither from the ground nor from the sky or from the sea”. And so, the nature incorporates and hides everything and also covers the roofs of the rooms scattered from the top of the hill to down to the very silent private beach by grass. It is said that here, between nature and a champagne cup, the beatle Ringo Starr has composed Octopus Gardenafter a Sardinian sailor had led him to see the dens of the octopus, very similar to the dry stone walls.

A villa with private swimming pool at the Hotel Pitrizza on the Costa Smeralda.

At pitrizza, however, today they are projected towards the future, given that in the coming months it will meet a complete transformation and will become the first Italian outpost of Cheval BlancAlburg of ultra luxury hotel chain of the LVMH group. And who knows if there will be a new Giuseppe Serra in these parts, given that “today there are few young people who want to embark on this career: they do not understand the potential, even the economic of a professional path of this type”, complain from the hotel.

Sushi, sake and dances

But the Costa Smeralda is not only whispers and chambers camouflaged in the rock. A few minutes by boat, the scene changes completely. Forget the muffled silence of pitrizza: al Nikki Beach The volume rises, the sushi eats dancing and the toast follow the rhythm of the DJ. The famous beach club that can only be reached by boat and that accepts only guests by reservation takes its name from the founder’s daughter, who died prematurely, that all the clubs in the world remember with a photo hanging on the wall. The young tanned waiters and clothes of light, who seem to come out of an advertisement of a Cool clothing brand, welcome you at the entrance and you are immediately immersed in a healthy mess. Today there is a bachelorette party, with the future bride in Bikini Bianco and Pareo who comes from Berlin and the friends who seem influencer who dance on the table. The volume of the music is high and more than to talk here we come to celebrate. And so, after tasting sushi and an excellent grilled octopus, the whole place gets involved in the train of the future bride, a human snake that makes a little New Year but Luxury Costa Smeralda version. Over the years, international celebrities have been sitting in the nearby table such as Michael Jordan, Ghiotto di Vitello Tonnato, Spaghetti alla Scoglio and Optan (yes, all in one lunch). Last year, even the most exposed couple of the moment landed from the yacht in this natural oasis, Jeff Bezos And Lauren Sanchezthen still engaged, with friends Leonardo DiCaprio, Vittoria Ceretti, Orlando Bloom and Katy Perry: for them a triumph of sea bass, sea bream and first in sharing. Jeff will have paid the account, he imagines. Outside the restaurant, open only for lunch and high prices, a expanse of beds invites relaxation. Here no music, only the water of the crystal clear sea of ​​Sardinia and mattresses in which to sink.

The evening is the moment when those who are lover of sushi (and can spend) must go to Zuma in Porto Cervo. Founded in London by Chef Rainer Beckerbig fan of Japanese cuisine, Zuma is today a chain with a guarantee of culinary excellence. The philosophy of the place, elegant and sophisticated, is inspired by the most informal Japanese catering style – the Izakaya one. With an authentic but non -traditional menu, which consists of modern dishes, the sushi bar, with dedicated chefs, and the grill stuff, which finds origin in the cooking style of fishermen in northern Japan. This restaurant with a sea view, with a design inspired by the four earth, fire, water and air elements with water games with a calming effect and built with ancient pine recycled by old Japanese houses, is also the paradise of those who love drinking well. There is even a subsequent subsequent sakewhich is located in 40 different varieties, and the author’s cocktails, which use top quality ingredients and selected Japanese alcohol.

In the blue painted blue

The day is dedicated to the sea. Even the most experienced travelers know it: for crystalline water and the most fascinating wild landscape it is not necessary to go to the other side of the world. The AGHA Khan understood it in the sixties, after a friend of the English billionaire returning from Sardinia he had told him that he had seen a beautiful place like the Caribbean but two hours from London. Sixty years after that intuition, luxury has extended its domain but without destroying or ruining the landscape and nature, with the Costa Smeralda Consortium (now owned by a fund of the Qatar) that supervises and administers, through an agreement, the territory, on which nothing can be built anymore. The tour with private boat with suggestive aperitif on board (we tried Enjoy Yacht) is the best way to immerse yourself in the nature of this little paradise. And when you see the prince’s beach, a strip of land with fine sand and sea that seems fake from how emerald is, so called because legend has it that it was the favorite of AGHA Khan, it is clear that the real luxury is this nature to scream.