MILAN — “Venice is the land of dreams — and the Des Bains is its antechamber,” wrote Thomas Mann, author of “Death in Venice,” about the Grand Hôtel des Bains. Opened in 1900, the fabled resort was long a Venetian refuge for cultural glitterati and has hosted Winston Churchill, poet Ezra Pound and celebrities including Elizabeth Taylor, Marcello Mastroianni, George Clooney, Johnny Depp and Madonna.
Now a consortium of investors that includes the former Yoox Net-a-porter Group chairman and chief executive officer Federico Marchetti plans to restore the hotel to its former glory. On Monday, Marchetti said he is a minority shareholder of the Coima Des Bains Fund, spearheaded by Coima, the Italy-based real estate investment and development platform and which includes Emerati businessman Mohamed Alabbar’s Eagle Hills real estate development and investment company. This is Marchetti’s first hospitality investment.
In a statement, Coima revealed that it had finalized an agreement with lenders to acquire 100 percent of the 54 million euro debt held against the historic Grand Hôtel des Bains.
The Hotel Des Bains (Lido). (Photo by Matteo Chinellato/NurPhoto via Getty Images)
NurPhoto via Getty Images
Coima said it plans to invest around 200 million euros for the “complete restoration and modernization of the hotel, bringing what was once a monument to Venice’s Belle Époque splendour back to life.” That includes improvements to the public areas surrounding the building, and modernization of the beach front.
The hotel has been closed for more than 15 years. Designed by Ruggero Berlam, it opened at the start of the 20th century with 180 rooms, grand salons, halls and frescoed ceilings and remains a symbol of bygone opulence.
Marchetti also owns a villa on the Venice Lido, restored by his friend and Oscar-nominated film director Luca Guadagnino.
Since 2021 the e-tail pioneer has been acting as a senior adviser to The Carlyle Group on international private equity transactions and has invested in global streaming platform Mubi and Bending Spoons, an Italian technology company.
The Grand Hôtel des Bains isn’t the first time Marchetti and Alabbar have joined forces. In 2016, Alabbar invested in Yoox Net-a-porter in the form of a capital increase of 100 million euros, paid for entirely by Alabbar’s retail group Alabbar Enterprises.
“The Venice Lido is one of the world’s rarest spots where one can simultaneously combine the beach with culture. The Grand Hôtel des Bains is a legendary treasure: I’m thrilled to participate in its regeneration, and partner again with Mohamed Alabbar on yet another visionary project,” Marchetti told WWD.
Coima Sgr is an investment and asset management firm that manages more than 40 real estate investment funds with more than 13 billion euros in investments. The deal is backed by Coima’s Coima Esg City Impact Fund, which is focused on the sustainable reuse of existing buildings. Other projects backed by the fund include the 2026 Winter Olympics Athletes’ Village in Porta Romana, Milan, which will become Italy’s largest purpose-built student accommodation development after the upcoming Olympic Games to be held Feb. 6 to 22.
In the statement, Coima’s founder and CEO Manfredi Catella suggested that the partnership signals more collaborations between the United Arab Emirates and Italy. “This first partnership with Eagle Hills, following an extensive exploration of investment opportunities, represents an important step forward and a meaningful sign of the strengthening relationship between Italy and the United Arab Emirates.”
