We have no Planet B. Our Earth is our only home, our single great and authentic value, belonging not only to us but to future generations as well. To protect our Earth is our duty: each of us can and must do all that is within our power to ensure that our children and grandchildren inherit a quantity of resources not inferior to what we ourselves were bequeathed. These are the basic principles supporting the idea of sustainability, the watchword that Hotel Principe Forte dei Marmi has chosen to adopt as the primary guideline for all its actions.

The challenge is anything but straightforward, because while the idea of sustainability might be clear, translating it into best practices – above all within such a complex and delicate organization as a five-star hotel – is another matter. “There are no specific laws to tell us whether or not a hotel is sustainable,” Principe’s director Cristina Vascellari clarifies. “Adapting to the regulations governing sustainability in general has been demanding; my team and I have devoted great attention understanding what directions we ought to take. To do entirely without plastic, to outlaw single-use products, to recycle or reuse everything we discard, to use non-polluting cleaning products, to upgrade our systems . . . Accomplishing all this – and these are only a few of our strategies – means a major commitment in terms of resources. But we are a major operator in our territory and as such it is our duty to set an example. I am certain that my colleagues and many other companies here will follow us down this road.”

One very significant area for change is human resources. “It is unthinkable to ask our personnel to give up days off, high season or not,” Vascellari asserts. “But that’s not all: we have decided that all our employees should have the right to celebrate their birthday with an extra vacation day. Certainly, this complicates organization of our activities, but the impact on staff loyalty is well worth it.”

People who work in a serene working environment work better. In the hospitality industry, this reflects in the courtesy, politeness, and helpfulness our staff shows clients. This applies across all the departments at Principe, from the front desk to housekeeping, from the restaurants to the beach and the Spa. Every single one was heard as part of the weekly sustainability project meetings held over the whole course of last year, and they all approved what is now a shared journey to common goals. Among the sector chiefs, one stands out. Valentino Cassanelli, the starred chef in charge of Principe’s restaurants: Lux Lucis, on the hotel’s top floor, and Dalmazia, on the sea.

Lux Lucis was the first engine of change and, today, it is at the avant-garde on the sustainability front. It represents high added value, since its notoriety and reputation also make it a charismatic ambassador of Forte dei Marmi and Versilia. “For us, our relationship with the territory, with the local companies that supply our raw materials, is fundamental,” Cassanelli reminds us. “With them we have created not only solid relationships based on trust and collaboration but – I might say – a true community with shared goals. Take Biodinamica Mediterranea of Marina di Pietrasanta, an agricultural concern that adopts traditional, even forgotten methods, from earthworm farming to use of carp to fertilize irrigation water. A plot in their fields is devoted to us exclusively: this is where all of the produce we use come from, and in turn, to fertilize the soil, the farm uses compost produced using scrupulously-selected waste from our kitchens.”

Another joint effort worthy of note is with Molino Angeli, also of Pietrasanta. The mill produces flours from ancient grains; moreover, it has convinced area farmers to introduce these crops, and guarantees minimum purchases to aid in reconversion.

Other examples we could cite are the coffee, the fish, the meat, the honey, and a good part of the wine cellar, with its organic and biodynamic wines. The approach is always the same: to make sustainable choices, choices that can generate wellbeing for the community and at the same time improve the quality of the restaurants’ offer. Because living and working sustainably does not mean obeying a rule here and there. It is a mode of being, of living, of interacting with people and with the community.

Principe Forte dei Marmi
viale Morin 67, Forte dei Marmi | +39 0584 783636
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