Inside Palazzo Margherita, The Italian Hotel Owned By Francis Ford Coppola

2 months ago

A quintessentially Italian spot with a star-studded story

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Film star looks and five-star service awaits Carole Annett at Francis Ford Coppola’s Italian passion project, Palazzo Margherita.

Review: Palazzo Margherita, Italy

Driving from Amalfi to Bernalda, the hilltop town in the arch of Italy’s boot and birthplace of Francis Ford Coppola’s grandfather, Agostino, is an interesting lesson in both geography and in understanding the importance of la famiglia to Italians. From the picturesque coastal villages of the riviera, buildings clutching the hillside in an array of pastel shades replicated in every local gelateria, as you head further south, the landscape melts from vertical to a flatter vista. Just as the sun’s focus moves from tanning the limbs of tourists to ripening lines of
olive and fruit trees, it begins to feel more agricultural. Basilicata is a largely undiscovered region and when you arrive in Bernalda, or rather, ‘Bernalda bella’, as Coppola’s grandfather and he himself says, it’s as if time has stood still.

Whether you get here via an extended road trip or by plane (Bari and Brindisi airports are 90 minutes away), don’t expect signage heralding the town’s famous Hollywood connection. The only clue to the entrance of Palazzo Margherita is four terracotta-coloured parasols in front of a door featuring an Egyptian-head door-knocker and a small gold name plaque. The doors are opened by a liveried member of staff – while guests may choose relaxed attire, the staff are immaculately turned out thanks to Coppola’s own tailor, who will gladly visit should you require anything for yourself.

Once inside you finally get to take in the scene. And it’s beautiful. Simple and quintessentially Italian, the entrance hall with frescoed ceiling and elaborate hanging lamp opens into a sun-filled courtyard dotted with tables and chairs, framed overhead by a stone arch, bougainvillea cascading over the top. Music drifts in with the breeze. You instantly understand why the property touched the film director’s heart, despite its initial disrepair.

Having visited Bernalda for many years, he acquired the 19th-century palazzo from the Margherita family in 2004. It has ‘good bones’, as an architect would say. It took five years, with the help of celebrated interior designer Jacques Grange, along with the input of Coppola’s
children, to restore the house to its former glory. ‘I wanted it to feel like it used to,’ he explains.

Very much a family house, Palazzo Margherita opened to visitors in 2012 and is definitely more home than hotel. There are nine rooms and suites, varying in size in respect of the original architecture, plus three bars (including a café/bar open to non-residents accessed via the street). A large desk on a first floor landing acts in lieu of reception. Suite Nine is Coppola’s bedroom featuring a Moorish design in honour of his Tunisian-born grandmother, Maria Zasa, while Suite Eight, Gia, is named after Coppola’s granddaughter and perhaps the most romantic with painted scenes of mythological figures. In Sophia’s suite, walls are adorned with pale pink and blue frescoes and delicate painted fretwork. Most rooms have access to an area of shady terrace.

Our room, Suite Seven, designed in collaboration with son Roman, has a sleek art-deco vibe, an old Monaco Formula I race poster and dark wood writing desk. In the bathroom what initially resembled striped wallpaper on closer inspection turned out to be exquisite stone detailing – strips of granite and marble, from dado to floor culminating in a thick door frame. Each room has its own personality, beautifully accessorised with divine smelling toiletries, little linen bags containing bath salts and cotton wool, and a candle to burn while you bathe. A yoga mat and pool towels in the wardrobe offer a hint to what guests enjoy while here – gentle R&R. Throughout the property, floors and frescoes have all been restored from the original and where there is a new addition, it is so beautifully considered that it’s hard to tell old from new.

Palazzo Margherita is run by a small group of staff led by Rossella de Filippo. Their faces soon become familiar – Domenico and Francesca wait tables and serve drinks, while chef Sephora leads the pasta making, a ritual for guests. The majority are from Bernalda and, if not the village, certainly the region. They take you to the beach (20 minutes by car), drive you to Sassi di Matera, a UNESCO World Heritage Site (a little further but well worth it), set you off on one of the palazzo’s bicycles, and encourage you to visit the local cheesemaker. They guide you round the exquisite gardens, pointing out where Sophia Coppola married Phoenix frontman Thomas Mars under a jasmine-covered gazebo, and show off the swimming pool (the only one in Bernalda) before leaving you to discover more little follies where you can dine or simply sit with a book and glass of wine.

As one would expect, the food and wine offering is sublime – simple dishes made with seasonal produce, often from the garden, with pizza if the oven is fired. At breakfast the kitchen offers an array of fruit, cakes and local cheeses including scamorza and treccia (from the mozzarella family). Guests eat at the kitchen table or in the courtyard where tables are set with starched white linens, and Domenico on hand to proffer eggs and cappuccino. If I checked the What3Words app, I’m sure it would read: organic, local, heavenly. We enjoyed Pollo alla Lucana, chicken cooked slowly with vegetables, numerous pasta dishes and lampascioni fritti (a local variety of onion, deep fried).

After dinner you can retire to the salon and curl up with one of Coppola’s favourite Italian films by Fellini, Rossellini or indeed the man himself. Watching The Godfather in Coppola’s own house felt surreal but it made me think that with Palazzo Margherita, Coppola is mirroring the role of Brando’s Corleone – minus the violence obviously – he’s looking after his family. And not just nearest and dearest but also the extended family in this tiny area of Italy at its most authentic, where, like the ancient olive trees in the garden, the Coppola roots run deep.